The FAU Owls (4-5) defeated the Florida Memorial University Lions (7-5) 71-63 at home on Tuesday night in the Burrow at Abessinio Court behind the combined efforts of senior forward Amber Gaston and junior forward Janeta Rozentale.

It was clear from the onset that FAU had the size advantage. FAU has five players of at least six feet while FMU has two of those players.

Gaston started cooking early, scoring 13 points in the first quarter. Rozentale finished the quarter with eight rebounds.

The game remained tightly contested with FMU outscoring FAU, 19-16, in the second quarter. The Lions eventually took a 34-33 lead but that would be their last lead of the game.

In the third quarter, Rozentale secured her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Both teams had issues with turnovers but FAU kept FMU in the game late by committing seven fourth-quarter turnovers. FMU went on to score 18 points off of those turnovers. FAU finished the game with 21 turnovers.

A combination of key defensive stops and clutch free-throw shooting from junior guard Kynadi Kuykendoll helped FAU stave off defeat. 

FAU won in the physicality department against FMU, finishing the game with a season-high 60 rebounds to FMU’s 30 rebounds. The offensive boards proved to be especially fruitful for the Owls. They finished with 21 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points.

Gaston further cemented her place as FAU’s go-to scorer, leading FAU with a 19-point, 13-rebound performance for her third double-double of the season. She was also highly efficient in her scoring opportunities, shooting 81.8% from the field.

FMU senior guard Keyanna Tolbert’s aggressive style of play caused problems for FAU all game. She was in attack mode on both sides of the ball, leading her to finish the game with 26 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Rozentale finished the game with 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. She also had two blocks.

Not to be outdone by the bigs, junior guard Alexa Zaph finished with 13 points and three assists while senior guard Rita Pleskevich finished with 11 points and three rebounds.

Senior forward Sofia Galeron also tallied a career-high 11 boards with four assists.

The Owls will have almost two weeks off before facing off against the Richmond Spiders at home in the first game of their Pre-Christmas Tournament on Sunday, Dec. 19 at noon. The game will be broadcast on CUSA.TV.

Trey Avant is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @TreyAvant3.