Techsters fall at Florida Atlantic, 86-72

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Sasha Cedeno scored 30 points and Danneal Ford added 21 points to lead Florida Atlantic to an 86-72 victory over Louisiana Tech before 804 fans at FAU Arena Saturday night.

Cedeno scored 14 points in the first quarter and 11 more in the second as Florida Atlantic opened up a 21-point lead late in the second quarter before taking an 18-point advantage into the halftime locker room.

Tech (12-7, 3-3 C-USA) cut the lead down to five at 54-49 on a Kierra Anthony jumper with 4:00 minutes to play in the third quarter, but Ford scored 16 points in the third and fourth quarters to prevent the Lady Techsters from recording the come-from-behind win.

Freshman Raizel Guinto came off the Tech bench to score a career-high 16 points, including four three-pointers, while Anna McLeod and Reauna Cleaver each added 12 points. Alexus Malone, Taylor Stahly and Kierra Anthony each added nine points in the loss.

Florida Atlantic (9-7, 3-2) held an 18-15 lead following a three-pointer by Stahly with 2:19 to play in the first quarter before the Owls used a 16-0 run over the next five minutes led by Ra’Kyra Gabriel’s seven points and Cedeno’s five points.

A Malia Kency three-pointer with 1:03 to play in the second quarter pushed the Owls lead to 50-29 before Guinto’s trifecta cut the deficit to 50-32 at the break.

Tech came out of the halftime locker room and held FAU at bay, outscoring the Owls 17-4 in the first six minutes of the quarter to close the gap to 54-49. However, foul trouble throughout the night proved costly as FAU capitalized at the free throw line to push the advantage back to double digits entering the fourth quarter.

Tech shot 41 percent (26-63) from the field, 9-of-22 from the three-point line and only 11-of-26 at the free throw line in the loss while FAU connected on 43 percent (28-65) from the field, 7-of-14 from the three-point line and 23-of-33 from the free throw line. FAU outrebounded Tech 50-35.

The Lady Techsters return to action Friday when they host Old Dominion at 6:30 p.m.