The FAU women’s basketball (5-22, 1-15 C-USA) team had a tough Saturday afternoon as they lost 76-47 to the top team in the East Division of Conference USA, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers (18-8, 14-2 C-USA). The loss extends FAU’s losing streak to nine straight.

Senior guard Rita Pleskevich opened up the scoring for the Owls and gave them the lead in the beginning of the game, scoring a mid-range jump shot on an assist from senior forward Sofia Galeron.

The Owls’ initial 2-0 lead was their only and biggest lead of the game. After Pleskevich’s initial shot, Charlotte dominated the remainder of the game.

While FAU made half of their shots in the first quarter, Charlotte’s effective shooting and perfection at the free-throw line gave them a 23-15 lead to end the period. Senior guard Mikayla Boykin led the way with nine points for the 49ers.

The second quarter was when FAU struggled the most, only making two of 13 shots from the field as well as two shots from the free-throw line. As FAU scored just seven points in the quarter, Charlotte repeated its first-quarter tally with another 23 points in the second quarter. The Owls even had more turnovers in the interval than shots from the field, turning the ball over three times to the 49ers.

As the game entered the second half with a score of 46-22 in favor of Charlotte, the game looked bleak for the Owls.

Despite scoring more points in the third quarter, the Owls still only made two shots from the field for the entire period. Ironically, the Owls were scoring more from the free-throw line as they made all six of their free-throw attempts. 

Their lack of scoring only made their deficit worse, as Charlotte again outscored the Owls and carried a dominant 62-33 lead going into the final quarter.

In what was the end of a rough day for the Owls, they capped it off by putting up their best quarter of the game. 

Matching Charlotte’s 14 points for the quarter, the Owls also outrebounded the 49ers by an 11-9 margin. Despite FAU putting in their best quarter of the game in the end, it unfortunately was nowhere close to turning the game in favor of the Owls.

Despite having their second-largest defeat of the season, the Owls did make as many free-throws and were more efficient from the line. Beyond free-throw shooting, the Owls secured 12 offensive rebounds compared to just one from Charlotte’s

The Owls enter the final week of the season, as their last two games come next week. They host Florida International University (FIU) in the Burrow at Abessinio Court on Wednesday, March 2 at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on C-USA TV as it will be senior night for the Owls.

Eston Parker III is the lead photographer for the University Press. For more information on this story and others, email him at [email protected] or tweet him @estonparker.