FAU’s women’s basketball (2-6, 0-4 C-USA) continue being winless in C-USA play after losing to the Old Dominion Monarchs (5-3, 2-2 C-USA) 77-72.

Women’s basketball head coach Jim Jabir said they played well for most of the game, but there is a lot of work to be done to play that way for the whole game.

“Injuries and all, there’s no excuse,” Jabir said. “We had an opportunity to win the game and we didn’t do it.”

Sophomore guard Alexa Zaph got off to a good start for the Owls in the first quarter. She scored her first seven points there, as the Owls performed better than they did to start in Friday’s 71-56 loss to Old Dominion.

“We simplified our offense and defense and emphasized basic key things that we wanted to focus on,” Jabir said. “But they [Old Dominion] did those things in a much better way.”

The same can’t be said for the defense, as Old Dominion had graduate forward Maggie Robinson score 11 of its 26 points to start the game.

FAU went in cruise control for the second quarter, outscoring the Monarchs 27-12 throughout the period. 

Old Dominion struggled to make shots on FAU’s defense in the quarter, as they shot 5-14 from the field. They also turned the ball over 10 times in contrast to FAU’s five turnovers.

The momentum stayed in the Owls’ favor, as they kept the Monarchs from going on runs to take over the game. On offense, however, the Owls were unable to make enough shots to increase their lead or make the game out of reach for the Monarchs.

It was a moment of truth for FAU in the fourth quarter. As Old Dominion kept the game close, graduate transfer guard Iggy Allen got her FAU teammates in huddles, voicing her frustrations to them so they could get it together.

“She’s really critical because at the end of the day, we don’t have a lot of those kids,” Jabir said. “We have a lot of followers, so it’s good that we have at least one leader.”

Despite Allen’s effort in doing so, FAU would lose the lead and the game altogether, as they couldn’t make the shots and free-throws needed to keep the game in their possession.

Allen finished the game with 16 points, six steals, five rebounds, and four assists. Junior forward Amber Gaston had 16 points and seven rebounds, while redshirt junior guard Rita Pleskevich put in 15 points and four rebounds, and Zaph ended with 13 points and four assists. 

The Monarchs’ best player was junior guard Ajah Wayne, who had a double-double performance with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Amari Young finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks, as Robinson scored 13 points and junior guard Aziah Hudson made four three-pointers for 12 points off the bench.

FAU will have its next back-to-back against FIU, with Jan. 15 happening in the Burrow at 5 p.m. and Jan. 16 in FIU’s court at 4 p.m. Friday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Saturday’s broadcast will be on C-USA TV.

Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.