The FAU women’s basketball team (3-6, 1-4 C-USA) ended their losing streak following a win over the FIU Panthers (5-6, 2-3 C-USA) 73-69.

This ends a four-game skid for the Owls and is their third win of the season. It is also their first win in conference play.

After a tight start to the game, FAU went on a 14-2 run starting at the 3:29 mark which carried them to a 26-16 lead at the end of the quarter. 

FAU started the evening well, going 11 for 17 in shooting in the first quarter and was led by Iggy Allen’s 16-point explosion. The graduate student also led the Owls with seven rebounds in the quarter, six of which came on the defensive end.

The Owls suffered a steep decline in shooting in the second quarter, shooting 5-18 and making only five of their nine free throws. Allen also sustained an injury early in the quarter, but returned before the end of the quarter. 

Despite this, FIU struggled offensively, making only four of its 11 shots as well as three of its five free-throws. Junior forward Amber Gaston led the way for the Owls on both ends, scoring seven and securing three rebounds. Redshirt junior guard Rita Pleskevich and Allen both contributed two points in the quarter, assuring a 41-29 lead for the Owls going into halftime.

FAU struggled shooting in the third quarter, as its defensive efforts collapsed as well. FIU went on a dominant 18-4 run to start the quarter, with half of those points coming from free-throws.

Head coach Jim Jabir said his team “didn’t come out with the same intensity defensively,” at the beginning of the second half.

Shortly after losing the lead however, FAU went on a 10-2 run which included four different players scoring for the Owls. Like FIU, free-throws also played a key role for FAU, regaining their lead late in the third. After an 0-2 start on free-throw shooting, the Owls responded by going 5-6 on free throws to enter the fourth quarter with a 55-50 lead over the Panthers.

Following a gathering of momentum late in the third, the Owls kept command of the lead in what was an almost identical quarter statistically for both teams. FAU went back-and-forth with FIU in scoring for the first part of the fourth, as the Panthers clawed their way back within two points of the lead with 5:10 remaining. 

Allen responded to this by scoring two quick layups within a minute, but FIU looked to secure one final run before the end. FIU would bring the game back within three twice in the final minutes, but FAU secured the game following a three-pointer by sophomore guard Nikola Ozola.

The Owls’ were led by Allen’s double-double, scoring 24 and gathering 14 rebounds. She also led the team with an efficiency rating of 22 and a total usage of 42.7 percent. Gaston finished second on the team in scoring with 11 and redshirt sophomore forward Janeta Rozentale finished second on the team for rebounds with nine.

FAU will finish its back-to-back at FIU tomorrow at 4 p.m. It will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Eston Parker III is the Photo Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @EstonParker.