SAN ANTONIO — Florida Atlantic evened the score with 28 seconds on the clock, but Akunna Elonu drained a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to give UTSA a 57-54 victory on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (8-14, 4-8 C-USA) headed into the final 10 minutes of play trailing by one point, 40-39, after Florida Atlantic’s Morgan Robinson connected on a three-pointer for the lead.
The Roadrunners scored the first basket of the fourth quarter but the Owls responded with a bucket of their own and led up until the 6:39 mark when Alana Heard made a jumper to tie the score at 44.
UTSA held its lead the remainder of the way until Kat Wright sank a trey to tie the score at 54 with 28 ticks. Twenty-three seconds later, Elonu made just her fifth 3-pointer of the season to even the series against Florida Atlantic (11-12, 3-9 C-USA) this year.
Elonu paced the Roadrunners with a career best 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including a perfect 2-of-2 from behind the arc. The senior also grabbed a team-best nine rebounds with four steals.
Ali Gorrell led the Owls with 20 points and was 7-of-17 from the field and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe.
UTSA will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 13, when the Roadrunners host FIU at 1 p.m. in its annual Pink Game. A silent auction will take place in the main lobby of the Convocation Center with all proceeds benefiting the Alamo City Breast Cancer Foundation.