Photo by: Adam Hammerman
The Pioneers suffered a close defeat Wednesday when they faced off against Florida Atlantic, losing 51-50 in the final seconds. The team met defeat once again Saturday, when they fell to the Florida International Panthers 58-42.
Saturday’s tough loss dropped the Pioneers to 16-11 overall and 8-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. In the loss, senior Kaetlyn Murdoch recorded 10 points and 13 rebounds, earning her fourth double-double of the season.
Freshman Morgan Van Riper-Rose scored eight points along with three rebounds and a pair of steals, while junior Emiko Smith and sophomore Maiya Michel put up 13 points collectively. However, these performances were not enough to top the Panthers (17-8, 7-5 SBC), who received strong performances from Jerica Coley and Finda Mansare. The duo combined for 32 points and 16 rebounds.
“FIU has a great group of players that can score, and even though we played great defense against them, we just didn’t have a great offensive night tonight,” said head coach Erik Johnson.
The Pioneers were met with defeat on Wednesday through a technicality that may have taken the game from them. Van Riper-Rose’s three point basket was invalidated by her toe crossing the front edge of the three-point arc, causing a late defecit for the Pioneers.
From the start, Wednesday’s game was a fight, with the Owls taking the opening tip-off and first two points. The Pioneers soon got back into the game with Van Riper-Rose making the first three pointer of the game.
Smith finished the night with nine assists, increasing her career total to 508, leaving her tied for 8th all-time in SBC history.
Michel led the team with nine rebounds by the end of the night.
“Eight of our final 11 games of the season were on the road, so us being able to keep pace and keep winning against quality teams on the road has been our biggest task,” said Johnson.
The Pioneers lead the series 5-2 against FAU. However, this last loss constitutes the second loss the Pioneers have suffered at the hands of Florida Atlantic since their visit to Florida last February.
Van Riper-Rose had a 19-point showing, finishing above the Owls’ leading scorer, Chenise Miller, and made the shot that almost brought the game into overtime. Thus far, the Pioneers have done well offensively with a team average of 61.6 points per game, shooting 42.5 percent from the field.
“We’re looking at this road trip as a defining week for us in terms of where we want to be when the regular season is all said and done,” said Johnson.
Though not the victory the team hoped for, Johnson said he was satisfied with the effort the team put out Wednesday.
“FAU is really good defensively, and their double teams on Kaetlyn were effective,” said Johnson.
The Pioneers face Louisisana-Lafayette on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Magness Arena.
