It has been a season to forget for the Florida Atlantic women’s basketball team, but the team has a chance to end its season on a high note when it hosts the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Middle Tennessee State University this week.

The Owls (4-23, 0-16 Conference USA) have not won a game since defeating Jackson State 67-58 on Dec. 16. FAU will also attempt to win its first conference game of the season.

Here’s what you need to know about both matchups:  

UAB Blazers

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (13-14, 6-10 Conference USA) has had an up and down season. However, this team can end its season over the .500 mark and climb up the rankings in Conference USA.

With consecutive losses to both Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee last week, the Blazers are looking to end their season strong starting with the Owls. In the first matchup of the season on Jan. 19, FAU suffered a 66-55 loss.

The Owls leading scorer for the game was junior Sasha Cedeno with 10 points.

Freshmen duo Miyah Barnes and Rachael Childress combined for 29 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the field and 58 percent from three-point range in the last matchup versus FAU.  To secure a win, the Owls cannot let this duo get that type of success.

Both teams shot the ball under 50 percent in their first meeting. One positive factor the Owls can look at is that the Blazers are 3-8 on the road, and all four wins that FAU has seen this year have been on its home floor.

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

In the month of February, the Blue Raiders (18-9, 13-3 Conference USA), won six of their seven games. Middle Tennessee will attempt to win both of its remaining games as it tries to keep its top spot in the standings.

In the January matchup, the Owls were defeated by 18 points on the road. Blue Raiders sophomore forward Alex Johnson exploded for 37 points on 54 percent shooting from the floor.

Senior guard Ty Petty added 21 points on 50 percent shooting.

Freshmen Alexis Shannon, Katelyn O’Reilly and junior Melinda Myers combined for 39 points for the Owls, which was too little to stop the very explosive offense of Middle Tennessee. This is a game that looks very difficult for the Owls to win, nonetheless defeating the Blue Raiders would give FAU a confidence booster heading into the offseason.

FAU will take on UAB on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. and will face Middle Tennessee State on Saturday, March, 4 at 5 p.m. Both games will be played at FAU Arena.

Jordon Edwards is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @koolkidklassic.