FAU senior guard Brittany Bowe leads the Owls with 12.5 points per game this season. (FAUOwlAccess file photo)
Pumped after slump
FAU guard Brittany Bowe says Owls ready for Sun Belt Conference Tournament despite recent two-game losing streak.
Originally published on
3/5/2010
by
Marcus Nelson
BOCA RATON – After FAU lost to Middle Tennessee on Saturday, the player they call “B-Bowe” sounded like Tebow.
At least to Owls coach Chancellor Dugan she did.
Despite entering the Sun Belt Conference on a two-game losing streak, Owls senior guard Brittany Bowe made sure everyone knew the Owls will give the maximum effort in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
“I’m not going to lie, it hurts real bad,” Bowe said after the loss to the Blue Raiders. “But I don’t think it hurts our play. If anything this will make us more hungry. If we had won these two games we would be lackadaisical. But we are fired up and are going to be ready to go, I guarantee you that.”
Dugan joked: “A Tim Tebow moment,” in reference to the UF quarterback's promise to be prepared for ever game the rest of the season after the Gators lost to Ole Miss in 2008.
The Owls are entering the tournament with two consecutive losses, but Dugan believes the team has plenty of momentum heading into Saturday’s game vs. New Orleans in the first round of the SBC Tournament.
“All we are doing is trying to sharpen up,” Dugan said. “We just have to keep doing the things we have done all season long, but just do them better.”
After finishing third in the SBC East Division FAU is a surprising fifth seed in the tournament, just two years removed from finishing dead last in the conference.
“I’m ecstatic we finished third on our side,” Dugan said. “With a couple of bounces our way we could have been right there battling for the bye.”
With the help of seven seniors, the Owls posted their best record since joining the Sun Belt in 2006.
“I’m proud of where we are,” said senior guard Carla Stubbs, who joined the FAU career 1,000-point club this season in the same game as Bowe. “As a freshman, it was tough and as sophomores it was tough. But we never put our heads down.”
FAU’s first-round opponent at 11 a.m. Saturday is No. 9 seed New Orleans, the same team that beat the Owls in Boca Raton in the first round of last year's Sun Belt Tournament.
“I look at the seniors like B-Bowe and Carla and I can just see they are extremely focused,” Dugan said. “Their mind-set is exactly where it needs to be. Whatever they throw at us, we have to be ready for and they understand that.”
Sun Belt Tournament
FAU (14-14) vs. New Orleans (10-19)
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.
Where: Summit Arena, Hot Springs, Ark.
Radio: streaming live
About the Owls: FAU is 0-3 in Sun Belt Tournament appearances and hasn’t won a post-season game since it won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament in 2006. …The Owls won at New Orleans 48-30 earlier this season – the fewest points the Owls allowed all season. …FAU is second in the Sun Belt with 6.6 3-pointers made per game.
About the Privateers: UNO is 4-14 since losing to the Owls. …The Privateers are the top team in the SBC in FG percentage defense, holding teams to 38.7 percent shooting from the floor. … UNO is last in the conference in scoring with 55.2 points per game
FAU Projected Starters / Head coach Chancellor Dugan
G Brittany Bowe 5-7 Sr. (12.5 ppg)
G Lyrell Barfield 5-8 Jr. (12.4 ppg)
G Teri Stamps 5-7So. (6.5 ppg)
F Carla Stubbs 5-10 Sr. (10.0 ppg)
C Jessica Knurick 6-3 Sr. (7.8 ppg)
UNO Projected starters/ Head coach Amy Champion
G Talisha Bridges 5-9 Fr. (5.3 ppg)
G Brittany Helm 5-8 Sr. (12.7 ppg)
G Rachele Monroe 5-10 Sr. (3.1 ppg)
F Candice McGee 5-11 Sr. (6.6 ppg)
C Juanita Cochran 6-3 Fr. (5.6 ppg)