BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Indiana State women's basketball team held Florida Atlantic without a field goal for the final 5:31 on the game, but it wasn't enough as the Owls escaped with a 70-67 victory on their home floor Monday night in Boca Raton.
The Sycamores (1-1) reeled off a 9-4 run during the final five minutes, thanks in part to a clutch 3-pointer from Diamonisha Sophus and a pair of jumpers from forward Wendi Bibbins. Though the Owls (2-0) struggled from the field in the final quarter, but did hit five free throws to offset the poor shooting during the stretch.
Foul trouble plagued ISU for much of the game as both Tierra Webb and Ashley Taia fouled out of the contest. Webb played a solid 29 minutes and finished with a team high 17 points for the Sycamores on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Taia, the Sycamores' best scoring threat was held to just 12 minutes in total after picking up fouls early in each quarter. The junior from Brisbane, Australia was able to finish with nine points and four rebounds.
Bibbins wrecked havoc on the Owl frontline, grabbing 14 rebounds on the night and scoring 10 points for her first double-double of the season. The junior was clutch down the stretch with a pair of buckets to pull ISU within two points with under a minute left in the game.
The Sycamores looked much better in the first half than the team looked in its opener last Friday, scoring 16 points in the first quarter alone. FAU came out on fire from the field in the first half shooting at a blistering 54.6 (15-of-28) percent. The Sycamores trailed by as many as nine points before cutting the deficit to just four at 34-30 heading into the locker room.
Indiana State continued to cut into the lead in the second half, hitting its stride midway through the third quarter as Webb put in a layup to extend the Sycamores lead to six points at the 4:58 mark. FAU did not go away though, as they connected on seven 3-pointers in the second half alone, including three in the fourth quarter to seize control of the game.
Redshirt freshman McKenzy Telfair tallied eight points in the outing, her first points in a Sycamore uniform. The Indianapolis native shot 3-for-8 from the field and grabbed two rebounds.
Nika Zyryanova led all scorers with a career high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field including four 3-pointers. As a team, FAU hit 10-21 (47.6) shots from the perimeter while ISU was held to just 4-of-22 (18.2).
The Sycamores were outrebounded in the game 41-28 but edged the Owls at the free throw stripe, hitting 9-of-12 while Florida Atlantic shot just 8-of-19.
Indiana State will continue its five-game road trip Saturday as they take on Cincinnati at 6 p.m. ET.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
