The FAU Owls (5-16, 1-9 C-USA) dropped a tough outing to the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Golden Eagles (14-7, 6-4 C-USA) 79-60 at Hattiesburg, Miss. FAU has lost three straight games, and nine of its last ten. 

The Owls were slow putting points on the board, ending the first quarter with four against the Golden Eagles. 

However, they were able to turn it around by the end of the second quarter managing to score 15 points. In those 10 minutes, redshirt senior Sofia Galeron had a team-high five points.. 

Heading into halftime, the Golden Eagles led 37-19. FAU struggled, shooting 27.6% from the field, 18.2% from three-point territory, and 1-for-2 from the stripe. 

With 4:51 left in the third quarter, the Owls managed to cut Southern Miss’ lead down to 14 points on a layup by redshirt senior Rita Pleskevich. This was the closest deficit of the half. 

The Owls managed to play competitively in the third quarter. USM outscored the Owls by two in the period.

FAU found success in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Golden Eagles 21-20. The Owls shot 50% from the field, 33.33% from behind the arc, and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line throughout the interval. 

Galeron led the team with 16 points, including four three-pointers. Junior guard Alexa Zaph led the team with 37 minutes.

FAU will travel to Charlotte, N.C. to face the 49ers on Monday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CUSA TV. 

Kevin Garcia is a staff writer at the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @kevingar658.