BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Lafayette women's basketball team pulled in 31 offensive rebounds on Saturday at FAU Arena, but only converted those opportunities into eight second chance points as the Leopards fell to Florida Atlantic, 53-49, in the opening game of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament.

Lafayette (2-2) was active early, forcing eight turnovers in the opening frame and jumping out to an 18-10 advantage behind sophomore Olivia Martino's five-first period points.

The game's leading scorer, Myka Matthews of FAU (2-3) began to heat up in the second period, scoring seven points in the frame, while the Leopards went cold, shooting just 4-of-19 in the quarter.

That cold streak carried into the third, as FAU erupted for a 22-10 quarter where the Owls shot 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and had runs of 12-0 and 7-0 to close out the frame to take a 45-37 advantage into the fourth.

The Maroon and White flipped the switch in the fourth, opening up a 10-1 run kicked off by junior Tasha Vipond's trip to the free throw line followed by freshman Nicole Johnson's 3-pointer and a strong post move by sophomore Natalie Kucowski. The run was capped off by a Vipond put back and a Martino transition layup to give the Leopards a 47-46 lead with 4:05 remaining.

The next four minutes provided just two FAU points to give the Owls a 48-47 lead heading into the final minute. Being forced to foul, Matthews converted all four of her free throws in the final minute in route to her game-high 25 points.

Sophomore Drew Freeland converted a layup to cut the deficit to one with 21 seconds remaining and Matthews hit her two free throws to push the FAU lead back to three.

The Leopards were unable to find the basket on their final possession as FAU tacked on a final insurance free throw in the final seconds.

Martino and Kucowski led the Leopards with 10 points apiece and each pulled in nine rebounds. Freshman Makaila Johnson scored eight points with nine boards and two assists and classmate Jiselle Havas hit a pair of 3-pointers for six points.

Vipond pulled in a career-high 11 rebounds, six on the offensive end, with five points.

Lafayette shot a season-low 27 percent from the field and was just 5-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Lafayette returns to action on Saturday, facing off with either Bradley or Delaware in tournament play with tip-off scheduled for 12 p.m.

For the latest on the Lafayette College women's basketball program, follow the Leopards on Twitter @LafayetteWBB, Facebook at Lafayette Women's Basketball, and Instagram @LafayetteWBB.