After shooting 52 percent in the first half, Florida Atlantic women’s basketball came out of the locker room cold in the third quarter, resulting in a 66-55 loss to the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Thursday night.

The Owls (4-13, 0-6 Conference USA) took a 30-28 lead into halftime, but shot just 33 percent in the third quarter. They made 1-of-4 shots from the free-throw line in the quarter.

FAU was unable to make a comeback in the fourth quarter as its second-half offense continued to struggle, shooting 36 percent in the last period.

The Owls shot 44 percent from the field for the game and committed 17 turnovers that led to 15 Blue Raiders’ points.

Junior Sasha Cedeno led FAU with 10 points on the night on 4-of-8 shooting.

Despite shooting 50 percent from the field, the Owls committed five turnovers in the first quarter and were unable to capture a lead after the period, leading to a 13-13 tie.

The second period saw the Owls make 7-of-13 shots from the field and cut their turnovers to just one.

FAU made four of its six 3-pointers in the half, and shot 52 percent from the field.

Junior Melinda Myers scored eight points in the half to boost the Owls offense. She knocked down all three shots, two of which were 3-pointers.

The Blue Raiders shot 41 percent from the field, including 9-for-19 from the deep, and were led by Rachael Childress’ 19 points.

FAU will travel to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 3:00 p.m.

Hans Belot Jr. is the sports editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @Don_Phenom_.