ALBANY, NY – Trailing by only a possession down the stretch, the Siena Saints couldn't get the bucket the needed as they fell to the Florida Atlantic Owls by a final score of 70-66 at the Times Union Center on Saturday afternoon. Junior Sabrina Piper led the Saints in scoring for the second straight game, pumping in a team-high 16 points.

The Saints struggled from behind the three-point arc but owned the paint, shooting 3-for-21 from distance but outscored Florida Atlantic 42-32 down between the blocks.

Piper added seven rebounds, a pair of assists, and a steal to her 16 points. Freshman Amari Anthony topped out at 11 points with three rebounds, two steals, and a block. Seniors Joella Gibson and Deja Rawls each tallied nine points, with Rawls adding four assists. The Saints were able to turn the Owls over 17 times, and recorded a season-high 12 steals in a single game.

Florida Atlantic (3-5) was led by Juliette Gauthier who pumped in a game-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, including 4-for-7 from behind the arc. She would snag 14 of her 18 points in the first half, which included all four three-pointers. Glenisha Harkless and Ra'Kyra Gabriel each tossed in 11 points, while Abby Voss grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players. Florida Atlantic shot 46.7 percent from the field, including a 10-for-21 clip from behind the arc.

Both sides came out with a fast paced game over the first five minutes of play, as both sides had five baskets before the halfway mark of the first quarter. It was Florida Atlantic who held the slim lead, and snagged a 15-12 lead with 2:51 remaining in the quarter. Both sides failed to score over the remaining 2:51 to go into the second quarter with the Saints still down three.

Freshman LaLa Watts and Deja Rawls sandwiched a bucket from the Owls to cut the lead to one early in the second, but a quick 5-0 run from Florida Atlantic extended the lead back out to six points. Like a seesaw over the three and a half minutes, the Saints used a 8-0 run to tie it and take a two point lead, followed by a 13-4 run from the Owls to take a seven point lead with 1:38 to play in the first half. Piper would drive and grab a layup before the final buzzer, sending the Saints into the half down by five.

The Owls held strong as the second half began, building up a lead as big as 11 points, which came with 6:01 to play in the third. But some big buckets from sophomore DeAnna Winston would help cut the Florida Atlantic lead back to single digits on two occasions, as the Saints trailed by nine heading into the fourth quarter.

Still with a nine point lead with 6:26 to play, Siena buckled down on defense and held the Owls to just one field goal through the final buzzer, as the Saints snagged buckets to build their way back in the game. A layup from redshirt senior Joella Gibson started the run and cut the lead to seven. Rawls, Anthony, and Gibson all made layups around a FAU bucket to cut the lead to just three points.

A made free throw from FAU's Myka Matthews put the lead back to four points with 1:36 to play. But a foul put Joella Gibson on the free throw line, where she knocked down both to put the Saints down just two. After getting a stop on the defensive end, the Saints had a chance to take the lead on a three-pointer with 59 seconds left, but couldn't knock it down. After two made free throws that put the Saints down four, Siena had another open look from distance but couldn't connect, ending the ballgame.

Siena took advantage of their turnovers they created on the day, creating 19 points off turnovers and 12 points on the fast break.

The Saints return to the court on Saturday, Dec. 7 when the Green and Gold head to Olean to take on the Saint Bonaventure Bonnies. Tip off for the duel is set for 7 p.m.