Latavia Dempsey drives for two of her eight points on Sunday against Georgia Southern. (FAUOwlAccess.com photo)
Owls pass test
Florida Atlantic rallies from 18-points down to defeat Georgia Southern 68-65 on Sunday on a late 3-pointer by senior guard Lyrell Barfield.
Originally published on
12/12/2010
by
Marcus Nelson
BOCA RATON – Exams kept Florida Atlantic off the court for 12 days prior to facing Georgia Southern on Sunday.
Like a college student cramming the night before an important final, the Owls didn’t do much vs. the Eagles until it was almost too late, but managed to pull out a 68-65 victory.
The Owls (3-6) trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half, but completed the comeback when senior guard Lyrell Barfield hit a 20-foot jumper in the closing seconds to break a 65-65 tie.
“Coach always tells us to keep shooting,” Barfield said. “We kept going to our shooters and it paid off.”
Georgia Southern (1-8) tried a shot at the end of regulation but was off the mark, allowing the Owls to snap a four-game losing streak.
“We are no way near and not even close to where we want to be,” said FAU coach Chancellor Dugan. “In the second half we played like we practice. That’s the team I see every day on the court. I don’t know if we were nervous, or cautious in the first half, but in the second half, they said ‘we’re going to just play.’”
One of the biggest factors in the comeback was the Owls’ defense, which held the Eagles to 37.7 percent shooting in the second half and didn’t allow a GSU field goal for the final 5:09 of the game.
“I thought (FAU) really just played harder in the second half,” Dugan said. “We got some steals, they missed some shots. I was pleased how we played defense in the second half.”
After trailing 40-24 at halftime, a 3-pointer and then a quick steal and layup by Lyrell Barfield cut the margin to 55-49 with 8:53 remaining.
Barfield continued her aggressive play as she converted a layup on the following possession to pull FAU within 57-51.
“We came together, got stops and the offense started coming to us,” said Barfield, who had 18 of her 20 points in the second half.
Georgia Southern was led by 16 points from Jaime Navarro.
GameBrowser: FAU 68, Georgia Southern 65
Moving forward
The Owls shot 85 percent (17-of-20) from the free-throw line...DaLita Scott had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. ...Breana Turner had 8 points by making 6-of-7 shots from the line.
Moving backward
FAU wanted to show more toughness on defense, but allowed Georgia Southern to have 17 offensive rebounds. ...The Owls shot 31 percent (5-of-16) on 3-pointers.
Key stats
- 17 – Turnovers by FAU, but only four of those came in the second half
- 17 – Assists by Georgia Southern on 23 field goals
- 10 - Rebounds from FAU Vontrice Dennis, the fifth time this season Dennis has reached double-figures in rebounds.
Up Next
The Owls play their next three games on the road, beginning with Saturday’s game at Saint Louis.