BOCA RATON, Fla. – The NSU women's basketball team concluded their preseason schedule as they got in a hole early against Division I opponent Florida Atlantic Owls, falling 91-65 on Saturday afternoon at the Burrow. 

"We played a much improved FAU team today from a year ago," head coach LeAnn Freeland-Curry acknowledged. "Our team learned a lot from their defensive energy and intensity, which will serve us well for the regular season. One big improvement we made today was our defensive rebounding and I'm proud of our group for winning the boards against a very athletic and tough team. Playing a grueling preseason schedule enables us to identify weaknesses before we open on November 8th. We have a lot to work on this week in practice."

 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

FINAL: L, 65-91

RECORDS: Florida Atlantic University Owls (0-0), Nova Southeastern University Sharks (0-0)

LOCATION: Abessinio Court at FAU Arena | Boca Raton, Fla.

FOLLOW US: @NSUSHARKS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1ST QUARTER | The Sharks got on the board first with a technical foul called prior to the start of the match because the Owls were late submitting their lineup. After Hailey Conley split a pair at the line, Esabelle Levine drained a jumper on the team's first possession of the game. It was a sloppy start for both teams with seven combined turnovers (5 for NSU) in the first five minutes of play. FAU capitalized making five of their first ten shots propelling them to an early 14-4 lead going into the first timeout. The Owls continued their aggressive play early as they exploded to their largest lead of the quarter at 26-9 after scoring 10 points off NSU turnovers. From this point on, back-to-back layups by Jordan Tully, followed by a Skyla Osceola three pointer with six seconds remaining capped a 7-5 run in favor of NSU to end the quarter trailing 29-16.
 

2ND QUARTER | Osceola picked up right where she left off draining the trifecta to open up the scoring in the second for the Sharks to cut the deficit to 13.  Claire McMahon hit a jumper and Tully scored the next four points for NSU. Unfortunately, the Owls were firing on all cylinders offensively in the second as they shot 71 percent from the floor. Osceola knocked down her third triple in as many attempts with three minutes to go in the quarter before FAU went on a 9-0 run to close out the first half, taking a 56-31 advantage at halftime. 
 

3RD QUARTER | NSU came out of the lockerroom with a sense of urgency as their energy level and focus turned up a notch. FAU opened up the scoring extending their largest lead of the game to 28 but then it was all Sharks from that point on. Makenna Drabick knocked down her only attempt of the game, followed by perfect trips at the line by Levine and Osceola to cap a 5-0 run. With 56 seconds remaining in the quarter, NSU managed to bring the lead down to 17 after a layup by Tully.  In the third, NSU outscored the Owls by six (20-14 edge), thanks to 13 bench points from the Sharks. McMahon had five points, while Drabick, Julia Kelner and Autumn Giles each chipped in with two to bring the score to 70-51 going into the final frame.
 

4TH QUARTER | The bench scoring continued to erupt for the Sharks as they outscored the Owls bench 14-3 in the quarter. McMahon's layup with 8:23 remaining was followed up by back-to-back three pointers by Osceola and Annie Santucci. Late in the fourth, Kelner made a couple layups 20 seconds apart to give her five points in the game. There were 10 turnovers in the quarter that kept the Sharks from making a push late in the match as the score ended 91-65.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Osceola led all Sharks with 17 points, shooting 5-of-6 from the field (all 3PT attempts) while also knocking down two free throws, and forcing two steals.

• Tully was next with 11 points, also chipping in with four rebounds.

• McMahon led the Sharks with five rebounds, including two on the offensive glass.

• The Sharks left plenty of points at the free throw line shooting just 12-22 (55 percent)

• As a team, NSU shot a solid 46 percent from the field, with FAU shooting 59 percent.

• The Shark bench outscored the Owls 40-29 and won the rebounding battle 31-26

• The Sharks committed 28 turnovers as a team, leading to 38 points off turnovers for the Owls.

• NSU outscored FAU 20-14 in the third and were neck and neck with the Owls, finishing just one point shy of winning the second half (35-34 FAU).

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• After missing the entire 2018-19 season, Osceola looked sharp hitting 83 percent of her three point attempts (5-for-6)

• The No. 15 Sharks head to Cleveland, Miss., to take on a Union squad who is currently receiving votes in the WBCA top 25, which is expected to be a thrilling opening night matchup on Friday Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m.

SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_WBasketball.