As the holiday season came to a close the AAC season began for both FAU and Tulane (8-4, 1-0 AAC). Tulane came into the game with a winless record at a true away environment while Florida Atlantic was 5-1 at home. The Green Wave added another L to the loss column for FAU with a 20-point win.
First Half
The contest opened with a 5-5 tie before Tulane pulled away with a 10-0 run, taking a 15-5 advantage. At the media timeout Florida Atlantic cut into the deficit, but trailed 17-9. The Green Wave lead stayed at night as they led 23-14, but a 7-0 run from FAU made the game only one-possession, 23-21 Tulane at the end of one.
The Owls tied it up early in the second as both teams stayed locked in a dead heat, 30 all with 7:35 remaining in the half. At the media break Tulane had worked their lead back to six, 38-32 with 5:27 left. Florida Atlantic fought back, limiting the Green Wave lead to four. As a response, Tulane went on a 14-0 run taking a 54-36 lead. A Tulane buzzer-beater ended the half with FAU trailing 57-36.
The Green Wave shot 71% from the field including 8-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first. FAU shot 3-of-15 from three-point range. Over the final 4:35 of the half Tulane went on a 19-3 run while FAU went one of their last ten shots.
Second Half
Mya Perry opened the third with six-straight points as the Owls opened the half with a 12-0 run, 57-48 Tulane. Tulane answered back with back-to-back layups as at the media timeout it was 61-48 Grean Wave. Florida Atlantic could not find an answer, falling behind by 21 with 1:11 remaining in the third. At the end of the quarter Tulane led 72-53.
FAU and Tulane traded points as the Green Wave led 80-60 with 6:25 remaining. Florida Atlantic defended with a full court press coming out of a timeout. Tulane’s domination continued with the Green Wave holding on to their 20-point lead, winning 91-71.
Stat Leaders
Ta’Ziah Jenks (top picture, Angelina LaBelle) finished with a career high in points with her total of 23 thanks to her 7-of-11 performance and 7-8 from the charity stripe. Emaya Lewis led the Owls in board with her total of eight, while Stefani Ingram earned four assists. On the day FAU shot 33.3% with a 4-of-23 performance from three.
Coach Sullivan
After the game head coach Jennifer Sullivan (pictured above, left, Garon Bach) shared her thoughts from the loss, “Obviously disappointing loss, first game of the [conference] season at home, and we talked about just defense. We were able to come away with 71 points, you know, trying to figure out different offensive rotations with different lineups out there. So satisfied overall offensively, we were able to score points. It was just defensively, we couldn’t get stops. It started mainly in the second quarter, so gotta get regrouped. Defense is what we’ve done well leading up to this game, and something you want to continue to do moving forward.”
Look Ahead
The Owls (8-6, 0-1 AAC) next contest will be against East Carolina (8-4) . The Pirates enter Sunday with a four game winning streak but trail Tulsa. When it comes to the American, ECU was projected to finish sixth in the conference. Florida Atlantic was tabbed for last. The Pirates’ forward Amiya Joyner was named to the preseason all-conference second team and currently is averaging 16.5 points and 9.5 boards a game. Tip-off is scheduled for Jan. 4 at 1 pm in Greenville, N.C.
