Florida Atlantic 66, Charlotte 55
A dominant second-half effort and a season-best and career-high-tying 22 points from Alexa Zaph powered the Florida Atlantic Owls (8-14, 3-8 The American) to a 66-55 road win over the Charlotte 49ers (13-10, 6-5 The American) on Saturday inside Halton Arena.
Charlotte opened the contest on a 6-0 run over the first three minutes of play, but the Owls roared back, scoring 10 unanswered through the 4:56-minute mark, capped off by a pair of triples from Alexa Zaph, to give the Owls their first lead of the day, 10-6. The teams traded baskets as the Owls held a lead at 10, 12, and 14, but Charlotte brought the score even at 14-14, before closing the period on a pair of free throws to hold a 16-14 advantage after the first.
Alexa Zaph opened the second with a jumper to bring the Owls back even at 16. The 49ers then went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead, 21-16. Charlotte held a 23-20 lead at the final media timeout of the opening half, but the Owls knocked down back-to-back triples from Allie Tylka and Zaph to battle back and take a three-point advantage with 2:35 to play in the half. However, the Owls couldn't get another shot to fall as the 49ers closed the half on a 9-0 run to hold the 32-26 lead at the break.
The 49ers extended their lead to eight, 39-31, to open the second half, after outscoring the Owls 7-5 through the 6:48-minute mark, however Florida Atlantic locked in through the rest of the third, holding the 49ers to just one free throw, outscoring Charlotte 12-1 to lead by three with 10 minutes to play, 43-40.
The Owls continued the momentum into the fourth, outscoring Charlotte 14-2 through the first five minutes to give the Owls their largest lead of the contest at 57-42. The 49ers tried to battle back, cutting Florida Atlantic's lead to seven, 62-55, but the Owls wouldn't break as they capitalized on free throws from Zaph and Jada Moore to clinch the 66-55 win.
UAB 94, Tulane 77
Senior guard Maddie Walsh scored a career-high 28 points and led four players in double figures as the UAB women's basketball team defeated Tulane 94-77 on Wednesday night at the Devlin Fieldhouse.
The Blazers (17-6, 8-3 The American) broke a program record by making 20 3-pointers against the Green Wave. UAB was 20-of-34 from the 3-point range and shot 57 percent for the game.
Walsh was 10-of-13 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the long range for her 28 points. Mia Moore notched her eleventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Denim DeShields earned her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists.
Ashton Elley also was in double figures with 15 points. Elley was 5-of-7 from the field goal range and the 3-point range.
Tulane was in the lead 22-14 coming out of the first quarter, but UAB came out hot in the second quarter shooting 69 percent. Walsh scored 13 of her 28 points in the second quarter and hit all five of her field goals, while also making all three of her 3-point attempts. The Blazers had a three-point lead heading into halftime (44-41).
UAB continued its momentum coming out of the break shooting (17-6, 8-3) 63 percent, 6-of-10 from the long range and 10-of-16 from the floor. Moore led the
Blazers in the third quarter with seven points. Walsh hit a three at the buzzer to end the third quarter and put UAB up 73-56 heading into the final quarter.
The Blazers scored 21 points in the final frame and were 5-of-10 from the 3-point range to extend the lead and claim a 94-77 win over Tulane.
Rice 69, South Florida 59
The Rice women's basketball team overcame an early deficit to sweep the season series with South Florida after a 69-59 win Wednesday night at Yuengling Center. The Owls move to 13-9 (7-4 The American) on the season.
Jazzy Owens-Barnett led the Owls with a career-high 21 points, going 4-of-4 from three-point range, while adding a rebound and an assist. Destiny Jackson added 14 points, including her 1,000th career point, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.
The win also marked 50 career wins for head coach Lindsay Edmonds. She becomes the fastest coach in program history to reach the milestone, doing so in 81 games.
As a team, Rice shot 24-of-51 (47.1%) from the floor and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from three-point range. The Owls added a stellar 14-of-15 (93.3%) showing from the free throw line.