Women’s Basketball: Owls doomed by slow start in 76-61 loss to Rice
With just a single regular season game remaining, FAU earned their ninth consecutive loss to the Rice Owls Thursday night.
Redshirt junior guard Joiya Maddox shoots for a layup during the last ten seconds of the first quarter. The quarter ended with a score of 7-14 with Rice in the lead.
March 3, 2023
FAU women’s basketball (12-16, 5-14 C-USA) continued their cold streak on Thursday night, falling 76-61 to the Rice University Owls (21-7, 12-7 C-USA) at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena in Boca Raton, Fla.
The 15-point defeat is the latest of a streak of seven consecutive losses for the Owls, dating back to Feb. 4. FAU started the season winning eight of their first nine contests; Now, with a single game remaining, they’re staring down their longest losing streak of the season.
Slow starts have been a recurring theme for FAU all season, and the same trend continued Thursday night. FAU struggled finding their shot early on, shooting 25% from the field and missing all of their three-point attempts in the first quarter, which allowed Rice a 7-point lead.
Despite the Owls’ recent struggles as a team, freshman guard Aniya Hubbard hasn’t slowed down and is averaging 14.4 points per game.
Hubbard continued that hot streak on Thursday night with a 19-point outing, drawing a trip to the foul line which slimmed Rice’s lead to 8 a minute into the second quarter. A possession later, junior guard Devyn Scott drew a foul as well, and made both free-throw attempts to bring the lead down to 6.
FAU went into halftime trailing by 9.
The Owls were never able to recover from their slow start, and by midway through the third quarter, Rice had expanded their lead to 14.
Rice began the fourth quarter on an 8-2 scoring run that pushed their lead out to 20—the largest of the night. That run proved fatal as the Owls ultimately fell by 15 when the final buzzer sounded.
Hubbard’s double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds made her the Owls’ leading scorer. Graduate forward Amber Gaston and junior guard Jada Moore both scored in double figures as well, with 10 points each.
The Owls’ will host their final regular season matchup on Saturday, March 4 against the Louisiana Tech University Lady Techsters (18-11, 8-11 C-USA). Tipoff from Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be broadcast by C-USA TV.
Cameron Priester is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @PriesterCameron
