Memphis Women’s Basketball Falls Short to FAU in Regular Season Finale

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Memphis women’s basketball concluded its regular season with a 69-62 loss to Florida Atlantic on Tuesday evening.

The Tigers were led by a career-high 21 points from Dain Dainja, while Jonnivius Smith added 11 points, all scored in the second half.

It took nearly two minutes for either team to score, with Memphis establishing an early lead of 8-2. However, their offense faltered, managing only one successful field goal in the final nine attempts of the first quarter, which ended with Florida Atlantic up 17-12.

The second quarter saw Memphis attempt to regain momentum but Florida Atlantic responded with a 12-4 scoring run, extending their lead to 11. Notably, Memphis, the leading three-point shooting team in the conference, failed to make a shot from beyond the arc, missing all ten attempts in the first half. They managed to reduce their halftime deficit to 32-26 after closing the half with an 8-3 run.

Memphis continued to struggle offensively after halftime, allowing FAU to embark on a 9-0 run that put them ahead 41-26. The Tigers, however, rallied back to score 11 consecutive points, narrowing the gap to four, but FAU maintained a 43-37 lead heading into the final quarter.

In the final period, Mya Perry of Florida Atlantic, who finished with 31 points, scored nine points within the opening three minutes, while Smith managed to keep the Tigers competitive with seven points during the same stretch. Despite staying within single digits, Memphis couldn’t close the margin to fewer than five. Florida Atlantic kept Memphis at bay by capitalizing on free throws, going 9-for-11 from the line in the closing moments.

Beyond Perry’s impressive performance, the Owls also benefited from Stefanie Ingram, who contributed 12 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. Memphis’ shooting woes plagued them throughout the game, as they finished with a field goal percentage of just 37.7%, allowing Florida Atlantic to generate 22 points from fast breaks.

The loss did not impact Memphis’ seeding for the upcoming conference tournament; they will enter as the No. 10 seed and face the No. 7 seed in the tournament’s second round. The complete tournament bracket will be confirmed following Thursday’s game between Tulane and South Florida.

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