BOCA RATON – Returning to Boca for their first home conference game this season, the FAU women’s basketball team (4-11, 0-4) fell to UTSA (7-8, 3-1) 72-62 on Thursday night.
Winless in their past four games, including a 74-65 defeat to rival FIU on Saturday, the Owls were outscored 36-30 in the second half. UTSA’s Kasia Kiejdrowska, Crystal Chidomere, and Tesha Smith combined for 59 of the Roadrunners’ 72 points.
“We left a lot of points on the board, especially in the fourth quarter where we had open looks,” Owls coach Kellie Lewis-Jay said. “In the fourth, first off it was offensive rebounds they were getting, so that is easy looks right at the basket. We did not take away tendencies.”
Sasha Cedeno led the way for the Owls with 19 points on 7-13 shooting. Junior Nika Zyryanova also added 10 points and made two three-pointers.
Since standing at 3-2 on November 25 after a 63-55 home victory over Jacksonville State, FAU has now lost nine of its past 10 games.
Saturday’s game against the dismal UTEP Miners, who were in South Florida on Thursday night for a showdown with FIU, will be a true test for the Owls to show they still have fight left in them.
“We have to go back to the drawing board tomorrow. We have to look at tape. We have to be ready for them,” Lewis-Jay said. “They are a little bit different team than these guys, so we will have to change up some things. We have to come out and have confidence and be ready to play.”
GameBrowser: UTSA (7-8, 3-1) 72, FAU (4-11, 0-4 62)
Moving Forward: Raven Doyle put up seven points and grabbed five rebounds…FAU made 42 percent of its three-point shots…the Owls’ bench outscored the Roadrunners’ by a 44-6 margin.
Moving Backward: The Owls turned the ball over 21 times…Freshman Katelyn O’Reilly fouled out after scoring eight points and notching five rebounds…FAU allowed 42 points in the paint.
Key Stat: 64 – the percentage of shots made by UTSA guard Crystal Chidomere and center Tesha Smith as they combined for 35.
Next Up: FAU will finish their brief, two game homestand on Saturday with a match-up against the UTEP Miners. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m.
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