BOCA RATON, Fla. – Teal Battle and
Alayzha Knapp each scored 17 points and Little Rock cut a double-digit deficit to within three but couldn't finish its comeback attempt in a 79-72 loss at Florida Atlantic Thursday evening.
Little Rock (1-4) trailing by as much as 16 before beginning to chip away at the Owl lead. The deficit dropped to single digits on
Tori Lasker's 3-point shot with just over five minutes to go and the Trojans pulled within three with a pair of
Teal Battle free throws, cutting the score to 73-70 with 1:52 remaining.
But FAU (3-2) made free throws down the stretch, failing to miss from the charity stripe in the final two minutes. And they had plenty of chances. The heavily fouled game witnessed 53 total fouls called in the 40 minutes of action. Despite those numbers and the foul trouble looming for nearly everyone on both sides, only one player fouled out (FAU's Lotta Vehka-Aho, late in the fourth quarter).
While both teams took plenty of trips to the free throw line, many of FAU's attempts came after made baskets. Crystal Primm, who led the Owls with 31 points, was sent to the line five different times for and-1 attempts, converting two points into three points on four of those trips.
Most of Knapp's career-high 17 points came in the second half as Little Rock attempted to mount its comeback while 11 of Battle's 17 points also came in the second half.
Any comeback attempt was forced as Florida Atlantic ended the first half with an 8-2 run then the Owls opened the second half with a 6-0 run.
Little Rock remains on the road and will head to Bowling Green, Kentucky to face Western Kentucky on Sunday at 2 p.m.
For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out
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