Women’s basketball: FAU collapse in the fourth quarter, falls to UAB for 18th straight loss
The Owls committed five turnovers and shot 35 percent in the fourth period.
Freshman Jacey Bailey dribbles the ball up the court during the first quarter of the Owls game versus Florida Gulf Coast University. Jon Bryant | Contributing Photographer
March 3, 2017
Fourth quarter mistakes doomed Florida Atlantic women’s basketball Thursday night in Boca Raton, as it fell 78-75 to the University of Alabama-Birmingham for their 18th straight loss.
The Owls (4-24, 0-17 Conference USA) committed five turnovers in the fourth quarter and shot 35 percent. For the game, FAU shot 44 percent from the field, including 7-of-21 from three-point land.
Freshman Katelyn O’Reilly scored a career-high 23 points in the loss. She went 10-for-19 from the field including a 3-pointer.
Another freshman had a great game, as Alexis Shannon knocked down five of her six shots, finishing with 14 points.
In the first quarter, both teams had four turnovers each, but UAB knocked down 10 of its 15 shots in the period to take a 21-15 lead heading into the second period.
Blazers Freshman Forward Imani Johnson and O’Reilly went head-to-head in the second period. Johnson had the hot hand in the second quarter as she went 4-for-5 for eight points, but O’Reilly was a force, scoring 12 of her points in the second period.
The Owls scored 26 points in the second period, and knocked down 3-of-5 three-pointers, including a Shannon buzzer beating three at the end of the first half to give the Owls a 41-38 lead.
The Owls would lead by as many as eight points in the third quarter with 2:59 left, but the Blazers would end the quarter out scoring FAU 8-3 to cut the deficit to three heading into the final period. The Blazers’ junior Whytney Singleton had 7 points in the quarter, five of those coming in the final three minutes.
With the game tied at 64 a piece with 6:34 left, Junior Keonna Farmer’s layup would give UAB the lead for the first time in the second half, and it never surrendered it. With under a minute left, Owls had the ball down four, but junior Janeka Williams stole the ball to just about seal the game.
Junior Whytney Singleton went 7-for-9 from the field and she scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half to lead the Blazers.
The Owls will close out their season versus Middle Tennessee Saturday, March 4th, at 5 p.m. at FAU Arena.
Ryan Richman is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @rydogg_818.
