KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team played to the wire against Florida Atlantic University on Sunday as the Owls held on in the final minutes to down the Broncos 80-79.
In the second ever meeting between the Broncos and Owls, Western Michigan converted 38 points in the paint and shot 44.4 percent from the field in the second half to finish within a point of Florida Atlantic.
Breanna Mobley led the Broncos with 21 points along with a team-high 14 rebounds, shooting 9-for-18 from the field and notching her third straight double-double.
Leighah-Amori Wool followed with 17 points and a career-high eight assists.
Kamrin Reed added 16 points, shooting 4-for-9 from beyond the art.
The Brown & Gold finished the contest with a 40.3 field goal percentage, converting a season-high 31 field goals along with 17 assists and 48 rebounds.
The Broncos jumped out to an early 13-9 lead with jumper from Wool followed by a three-pointer from Reed. Mobley had three layups in the first quarter, sinking three in a row to force a Florida Atlantic timeout with three minutes to play. The Owls answered with a pair of threes to tie the game at 14-14 before the Broncos managed to pull away off a fast break from Reed and another layup by Mobley to close out the first stanza with a three-point lead.
WMU extended its lead early into the second quarter after a 6-0 scoring run and maintained it throughout the first half. Florida Atlantic fought back with seven straight points, but were cut off by another three from Reed and a pair of free throws by graduate transfer
Chelayne Bailey. A jumper from freshman
Sydney Shafer secured the Bronco lead going into halftime, 40-38.
Florida Atlantic opened the second half on a 5-0 run two minutes in to take their first lead of the game, 43-42. WMU answered with a pair of threes off the bench by sophomore
Maddie Watters and a deep shot by Wool as the Broncos took back the lead by 10.
Jordan Walker put up two points in the paint with two minutes to play to send the score to 62-54 heading into the final frame.
The Owls outscored the Broncos 26-17 during an exciting final 10 minutes. Wool opened the fourth quarter with a fast-break layup to give WMU another 10-point advantage. However, FAU answered with a 15-0 run to take a 69-64 lead to force a Bronco timeout with 6:23 left on the game clock.
Down by three with less than five minutes remaining, Bailey made a clutch three-pointer to put WMU up by one at 74-73. She then added another three and a jumper for a solo 8-0 run to put the Broncos up 79-76 with 28 seconds remaining. A layup from FAU's Amber Gaston and pair of shooting fouls on the Broncos gave the Owls a chance to take the lead as they went 2-for-4 from the line to seal the win, 80-79.
The Broncos, now 2-2 overall, travel to El Paso, Texas, for the annual UTEP Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 27 to take on the University of Texas-El Paso and New Mexico State.
