The women's team was knocked off by FIU tonight 65-55 in Miami…it is the fifth straight loss for the squad…game release via FAU SID Dale Long:

The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team fell to 7-7 in Sun Belt Conference (SBC) play with a 65-55 loss to FIU on Wednesday night at U.S. Century Bank Arena. The game was the first of two league meetings in the final stages of the winter season.

FAU falls to 10-12 on the season and will play at the University of South Alabama on Saturday, February 9 at 6 p.m. in Mobile, Alabama. The game will be televised on the Sun Belt Network (CSS). FIU improved to 14-9 overall and 8-6 in league play – breaking a tie between the two Florida rivals for third place in the SBC’s East Division.

Senior guard Breana Turner led the Owls with 15 points, while Miami native junior guard Takia Brooks added 13 points in her homecoming.

The hosts held an 18-8 lead with 11:14 remaining in the first half. FAU cut the deficit to two points, 30-28, following a free throw by Brooks at the 3:45 mark of the period. FIU went on to take a 36-30 halftime lead, and shot 56 percent in the second half to pick up the 10-point victory.

FIU’s Jerica Coley, the nation’s leading NCAA Division I scorer, had a game-high 33 points, while Diamond Ashmore added 16 points.

The women's team snapped a five game slide today behind a 59-56 win against South Alabama (13-11, 6-9) in Mobile.

Ahead 31-29 at intermission, FAU (11-12, 8-7) would lead by eight points on multiple occasions in the second half, but allowed the Jaguars to close the deficit to just a point twice down the stretch.

However, Breana Turner made two free throws with 9.9 seconds left in the home team's second push, and Florida Atlantic turned up the defense immediately afterwards to thwart a game tying three point effort by USA with just two ticks left.

Three point shooting favored the Owls, who shot 41.2% for the contest overall, and had three players in double figures - Turner (13), Takia Brooks (13), and Latavia Dempsey (10).

After splitting their recent two game road swing, the team now returns to Boca Raton and will host Western Kentucky on Wednesday at 7:00 PM in The Burrow.

Western Kentucky (18-6, 11-4) completed a regular season sweep over the Owls with a 64-61 win at FAU Arena on Wednesday night.

Florida Atlantic assumed a 13 point advantage early on in the first period, but the Hilltoppers closed the stanza with a 21-9 run to lead 31-30 at the break.

A Briah Blakely three pointer pushed the Owls back into the driver's seat 40-35 three minutes into the final frame before the teams exchanged counter punches for control.

Trailing by one at 61-62 with :10.0 remaining, a missed free throw forced FAU (11-13, 8-8) into a fouling situation upon which Western Kentucky cashed in on for the game's final points.

Junior forward Chenise Miller was one of three double-figure Florida Atlantic scorers, with 14 points, while junior guard Latavia Dempsey added 14 points and senior guard Breana Turner chipped in 12 points.

WKU’s Alexis Govan scored a game-high 31 points to lead the team’s offensive attack.

FAU will next face off against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, February 16th at 6:00 PM at Earl K. Long Gym.

Florida Atlantic (11-14, 8-9) dropped a 72-57 decision to Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls led 35-33 at intermission, but an 0-of-10 showing from long range allowed the host Cajuns to pull away behind consistent scoring.

Chenise Miller paced FAU with 18 points and eight rebounds and Breana Turner (16) and Takia Brooks (11) were also in double figures.

Kia Wilridge and Keke Veal each had 20 points for the home team.

FAU next takes on North Texas at 8:00 PM on Wednesday in Denton.

The Owls outscored the Mean Green 49-29 in the second half en route to a 73-60 win on Wednesday night in Denton.

Florida Atlantic (12-14, 9-9) was 8-of-13 from long range in the period.

FAU completes a season sweep over North Texas (10-17, 9-9)having knocked them off 79-67 on January 19th in Boca Raton.

Breana Turner (14), Briah Blakely (13), Kimberly Smith (13), and Takia Brooks (11) each notched double-digit scoring efforts.

The team will next return home to face UALR on Saturday at 3:00 PM.

FAU loses on Saturday afternoon to UALR…here's the game release via SI D Dale Long:

The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team trimmed a 19-point halftime deficit to seven points but dropped a 60-43 game to UALR on Saturday, February 23 at the FAU Arena.

The Owls used a 17-6 run over the first eight minutes of the second half to get within eight points, 42-34. Senior guard Breana Turner scored 11 of her game-high 15 points in the second half. Turner went 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the contest.

Later, a pair of Turner free throws cut UALR’s lead to 50-43 with over five minutes remaining. However, the visitors turned up the defensive intensity and closed the game scoring the final 10 points.

UALR (20-7, 12-6 Sun Belt) held a 36-17 halftime advantage behind 68 percent shooting. Taylor Gault and Taylor Ford scored 11 points and Kiera Clark added 10 points in the win.

The Owls fall to 12-15 on the season and 9-10 in league play. The team closes out the regular season against FIU on Saturday, March 2 at 3 p.m. The program will honor seniors Kelsey Proctor and Turner prior to the game.

The women's team dropped their final game of the regular season to Florida International 68-65 on Saturday afternoon at FAU Arena.

Florida Atlantic trailed 33-34 at the break, but took control to lead by as many as five in the second half.

The were ahead 65-61 with 2:15 to play, however miss their last four shots. FAU had a last possession and Kimberly Smith’s game-tying three-point field goal attempt rimmed out before the final buzzer.

Three point shooting suffered as the Owls (12-16, 9-11) made only 27.3% of their attempts (6-of-22). Smith was hot from long range however, going 4-of-6 while of of three players in double figures with 15 points.

Chenise Miller led the Owls with 16 points, and and Briah Blakely pitched in 12 points. Jerica Coley was the game's high scorer with 29 points off 11-of-19 shooting.

The Panthers (18-11, 12-8)  took the edge off the glass 40-29 over FAU, who got the the free throw line only five times on the afternoon.

Senior Breana Turner posted 9 points and a team best 8 rebounds in her final home game.

The Owls will await the winner of the South Alabama and Troy game for final seeding in the 2013 Sun Belt Tournament.

Championship Seeds (SBC Records in Parentheses)

1. *&Middle Tennessee (17-3, 0.850)
2. *&UALR (14-6, 0.700)
3. &WKU (13-7, 0.650)
4. &Arkansas State (12-8, 0.600)^
5. &FIU (12-8, 0.600)
6. North Texas (10-10, 0.500)^^
7. South Alabama (10-10, 0.500)
8. Florida Atlantic (9-11, 0.450)
9. Louisiana-Monroe (7-13, 0.350)
10. Troy (3-17, 0.150)^^^
11. Louisiana-Lafayette (3-17, 0.150)


Championship Schedule

Friday, March 8
Game 1 - No. 8 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 9 Louisiana-Monroe - 12:00 p.m. (Summit Arena)
Game 2 - No.7 South Alabama vs. No. 10 Troy – 2:00 p.m. (Convention Center Court)
Game 3 - No. 6 North Texas vs. No. 11 Louisiana-Lafayette - 2:30 p.m. (Summit Arena)

Saturday, March 9
Game 4 - No. 1 Middle Tennessee vs. Winner Game 1 - 12:00 p.m. (Sun Belt Network - Summit Arena)
Game 5 - No. 4 Arkansas State vs. No. 5 FIU - 11:30 a.m. (Convention Center Court)
Game 6 - No. 2 UALR vs. Winner Game 2 - 2:30 p.m. (Sun Belt Network - Summit Arena)
Game 7 - No. 3 WKU vs. Winner Game 3 – 2:00 p.m. (Convention Center Court)

Sunday, March 10
Game 8 - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 - 12:00 p.m. (Sun Belt Network - Summit Arena)
Game 9 - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7 - 2:30 p.m. (Sun Belt Network - Summit Arena)

Monday, March 11
Championship Game - Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 - 1:00 p.m. (ESPNU – Summit Arena)

***All times CST.

Any thoughts on why this team started out so strong and ended the second half of the season so poorly?

I remember in the beginning hearing about how the lady owls were "successfully putting teams away" and then later in the season it's like "they lost again… and another one… and dropped another one…"

Somebody important get injured?

The women's team lost to Louisiana-Monroe 63-70 in the 2013 Sun Belt Tournament on Friday afternoon.

The Owls never led, and shot just 23.8% from long range, while surrendering a 56-to-35 edge off the glass to the Warhawks.

Breana Turner was the lone player in double digits for FAU, but posted a contest best 25 points to accompany a team high eight rebounds.

Florida Atlantic tied the game before Alayshia Hunter's three-point play made it 12-9, Warhawks, with 12:30 left before the break.

With 4:21 remaining, ULM led 59-49 as both teams began to struggle from the floor. The Warhawks would control the final minutes and collect the 71-63 win and advance to Saturday's second round.

After starting out the year on a tear, the team dropped 10 of their final 12 games and concludes the season with an overall mark of 12-17, and a conference record of 9-12.