FAU women’s basketball (4-6) began the Pre-Christmas Tournament Sunday afternoon with an 81-63 defeat to the University of Richmond (7-4) in the Burrow at Abessinio Court. 

The Owls dominated to begin the first quarter as their first points came from redshirt sophomore guard Kimia Carter, who scored in the paint and was then fouled on the play. The Owls continued to quickly put up shots with the help of redshirt senior forward Sofia Galeron. She contributed to nine of the Owls’ first 14 points. 

FAU maintained close to a 10-point lead for the rest of the first quarter but after a jumper from senior guard Claire Holt, the Spiders cut it to eight as the Owls led 20-12 to end the period. 

Only shooting 6-17 from the field as they were slow to score in the second quarter, the Owls still managed to maintain their lead and benefit off of the Spiders’ consecutive turnover troubles. FAU went on a 6-0 run as a result. 

To wrap up the first half, the Owls led 35-26. The highest scorers were Galeron, Carter, and senior guard Bre Beck who all combined for a total of 27 points. 

Richmond had a revival in the third quarter. Prepared to be more aggressive, the Spiders scored the first basket and forced FAU to turn the ball over twice. The Spiders proceeded to go on a 6-0 run that had them trailing by only three points. 

The three-pointer that Richmond needed came from freshman forward Cayla Williams as the Spiders tied the game at 37 apiece and eventually took the lead. 

Richmond shot significantly better, with 57% from beyond the arc and 50% from the field. FAU, on the other hand, could not score a three-pointer. 

With 2:54 remaining, back-to-back layups from senior forward Amber Gaston put the Owls up 47-44. However, the Spiders ended up with a 54-49 edge after going on a 10-2 run to close the quarter. 

A total of 28 points from senior forward Emma Squires allowed the Spiders to continue their shooting momentum into the fourth quarter. They shot 76% from the field. 

Despite Carter having a career-high 19 points for the Owls, the Spiders went on to lead by as much as 15 points and it was too late for FAU to find any way to make a comeback. 

The Owls will finish the Pre-Christmas Tournament at home on Monday, Dec. 20 at 2:30 p.m. against Alabama A&M University. The tournament will be broadcast on C-USA TV. 

Gabriella Brito is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @gaby1brito