The Florida Atlantic Owls (5-25, 1-17 C-USA) suffered a crushing defeat to the Florida International University (FIU) Panthers (15-15, 6-12 C-USA) after leading for most of the game in the preliminary round of the Conference USA Championship.

Tonight’s loss ties the mark for the worst record in program history set in the 2018-19 season with a 5-25 record.

Paced in scoring by redshirt senior guard Rita Pleskevich, who was named to the C-USA All-Academic team today, the Owls fell short in a game they once led by as many as 11 points. 

FAU shot 53.1% from the field in the first half, then things began to slow down after the half as they shot just 19.2% in the second half. 

The Owls’ offense became stagnant once the Panthers ramped up their attack from the three-point line, shooting 57% from beyond the arc in the half. 

Junior guard Alexa Zaph contributed 13 points off the bench along with a double-double performance of 14 points and 18 rebounds from junior forward Janeta Rozentale. 

Senior guard Kyla Nelson led the Panthers in scoring with 23 points with seven rebounds. Freshman guard Tanajah Hayes contributed 14 points and seven assists. 

FAU closed the 2022 season on a 12-game losing streak in head coach Jennifer Sullivan’s first season.

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