Charlotte 93, Gardner-Webb 43
The Charlotte women's basketball team finished their three-game homestand on Friday (Nov. 14) with a dominant 93-43 win over the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs for their third consecutive win in Halton Arena to start the 2023-24 season.
Momentum was fully in favor of Charlotte to start the night as the 49ers came out of the gate clicking on all cylinders, hitting 13 of their 19 shots in the first quarter and 7 of the first 9 three-point attempts. Jacee Busick was perfect from the floor as she hit all four of her shot attempts, three of them from behind the arc. At the end of the quarter, Charlotte led Gardner-Webb 35-10. The team's 35 points set a new record for most in the first quarter, with the previous record being 30 at Florida International University in 2017. For the game, the Niners totaled 13 threes on their 26 attempts for a clean 50%, shooting 34-66 on field goals (51.5%).
Florida Atlantic 80, Chicago State 57
The Florida Atlantic Owls (2-1) opened up their 2023-24 home season, earning a dominant 23-point win, 80-57, against the Chicago State Cougars (0-5) on Friday at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
Evie Van Der Woude got the Owls started with a layup 13 seconds into the contest, 2-0. Chicago responded to take the lead, 5-2, but Mya Perry knocked down the Owls first from deep to bring things even at five. Following a 7-7 tie, the Owls broke things open, outscoring the Cougars 12-2 to extend the Owls' advantage to double-figures, 19-9, at the 1:14-minute mark of the first. The Owls maintained a nine-point advantage as the first eventually came to an end at 22-13.
The Owls and the Cougars battled back-and-forth to open the second, as the Owls continued to lead by 11, 32-21, through the 6:44-minute mark. The Owls then produced an 8-0 run to extend their advantage to 19 with 3:10 to play in the half. Chicago State scored on a layup, but the Owls got a layup of their own from Janeta Rozentale to close out the half as the Owls took a 19-point advantage, into the break, 42-23.
Florida Atlantic scored four unanswered to open the second half, extending the Owls lead to 23, 46-23. However, Chicago State battled back over the remainder of the third, going on a 19-6 run to cut the Owls' lead to just 10 entering the final quarter of play, 52-42.
However, that was as close as the Cougars would get. The Owls locked in over the final 10 minutes of play, outscoring the Cougars by their largest margin of the game, 28-15, to seal the Owls' 23-point home-opening win, 80-57.