EL PASO, TEXAS (Feb. 11, 2016) -- FIU women's basketball shot for a better percentage than their opponent for the seventh time this season, but a season-high 27 turnovers at UTEP were the Panthers' undoing in a 70-52 loss Thursday night at the Don Haskins Center in Conference USA action. The Miners have won 12 of their last 13 games and improve to 11-1 in C-USA, 20-2 overall. FIU is now 3-20 overall, 1-11 in league games.
 
For the game, the Panthers were able to outshoot UTEP for the game (.404 to .369) and it was the fifth-worst shooting percentage for the Miners in a game this season. The Panthers played a season-high 10 players in the contest and the Miners saw 14 student-athletes in the contest. UTEP collected a season-high 24 offensive rebounds in the game.
 
Defense ruled the first quarter, as this second-time meeting provided lots of film for both teams to review. FIU held the Miners to just .300 in the opening period, which played to a 15-11 UTEP lead. The Panthers shot a little better, at .364, but seven turnovers in the period led to eight UTEP points to aid in the lead. Junior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) led all scorers with eight early points on a 4-for-4 start.
 
The Miners dominated the second quarter, forcing seven more FIU turnovers, translating in eight more points from them and led 35-19 at the half. For only the third time this season, the Panthers failed to connect on a three-point attempt. The 0-for-7 start behind the arc is the worst of the season in the opening half. Of FIU's first 19 points, 10 came in the paint when the team could breakdown the tough perimeter defense of the home team.
 
The Panthers finally hit the first three with 3:36 in the third by junior Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Gulf Coast State). FIU hit all six free throw attempts in the period and outshot the Miners .364 to .333 but could not gain ground after the hosts went 9-for-14 in the period from the free-throw line.
 
The Panthers also outshot the Miners in the fourth quarter (.438 to .412), but the teams played to an 18-all stalemate in the period. It was FIU's best scoring output for a period of the night.
 
Senior Taylor Shade (Boynton Beach, Florida / Community HS) led the Panthers with 13 points. It was her 52^nd-career game with 10-or-more points and her fifth-straight getting to that plateau. Hegedus scored 11 for FIU and senior Destini Feagin (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) added 10.
 
FIU will cross the state of Texas and play next at UTSA, with the tip scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. The Panthers will follow that with a three-game home stand over the following two weekends.
 
For women's basketball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWBB) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWBasketball) for all the latest FIU women's basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and at the FIU Football Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.