BOCA RATON, Fla. – Despite a career-high performance from sophomore Alexis Eckles, the Cleveland State women's basketball team fell at Florida Atlantic Friday evening, 79-74. The loss drops the Vikings to 1-2 on the season, while Florida Atlantic improves to 2-1.
Eckles posted the first double-double of her career against FAU, notching 17 points and 11 rebounds – both team-highs. She also tallied three assists and five blocks against the Owls, with the five blocks tying for the seventh best single-game mark in program history.
Adesuwa Aideyman added 15 points for the Vikings, including a trio of three-pointers, along with five assists. Cori Coleman posted double-digit points for the third straight game with 13, while Brooke Smith added a career-high 13 points and five assists.
Imani Gordon was just shy of a double-double, posting 10 rebounds and eight points. The 10 rebounds marked her first double-digit rebound game of the 2014-15 season.
After going into the halftime break trailing by three points (40-37), the Vikings went on a 6-2 run to open the second half, gaining their first advantage of the contest at the 43-42 mark. Aideyman and Eckles hit back-to-back three-pointers to put CSU up by one-point with 17:18 left to play.
Florida Atlantic then responded with an 8-4 run of their own over the next four minutes, regaining a 50-47 lead with 13:18 left on the clock. The Owls were able to hold the advantage over the next 3:03, until seven straight Viking points put Cleveland State back on top, 56-54 with 10:13 remaining. During this stretch, CSU got five points from Aideyman and two from Eckles.
The Vikings were able to hold the lead over the next three minutes, until the 7:19 mark when an FAU three-pointer put the Owls back up by one (64-63). Florida Atlantic would then hold the advantage for the rest of the contest, despite the Vikings closing the gap to one point multiple times.
After the Vikings came within two points at the 76-74 mark with just 35 seconds remaining, CSU was forced to foul, and the Owls closed out the contest with a 3-for-4 performance from the free throw line, claiming the five-point victory.
As a team, Cleveland State shot 41-percent from the field (28-for-68), and notched 17 assists.
The Vikings will close out their first roadswing of the season on Sunday (Nov. 23), traveling to FIU for a 2:00 p.m. contest.