Box Score FT. MYERS, Fla. (Nov. 14, 2012) – In its first road game of the season, the FIU women's basketball team fell to in-state foe Florida Gulf Coast, 69-45, on Wednesday night at Alico Arena. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 1-1 (0-0 SBC) while the Eagles improve to 2-0 (0-0 Atlantic Sun).

In the first half, FGCU took an early lead but FIU bounced back to go ahead, 16-15, at the 8:11 mark as sophomore Zsofia Labady dished to freshman Katrina Epnere, who drove into the lane for the bucket. The Eagles would then go on a 20-5 run to close out the half, taking a 35-21 advantage into the halftime break.

The second half saw FIU start to chip away at the deficit before FGCU used a 14-0 run over a span of nearly five minutes to push its lead to 62-37 with just under six minutes left to play. The debt proved to be too much for the Panthers to overcome, as the Eagles went on for a 69-45 win.

Junior Marita Davydova led the Panthers with career-high totals of 16 points and 11 boards to mark her first-career double-double. Junior Jerica Coley added nine points in the loss, while registering nine boards and team-leading marks of two steals and two blocks. Leading FIU in the assists category was senior Carmen Miloglav with five helpers.

As a team, FIU shot 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field compared to a 44.3 percent (27-of-61) mark for FGCU. The Eagles converted on six three-pointers, while the
Panthers connected on just a pair of treys, and FGCU out-scored FIU, 42-28, in the paint. The Eagles narrowly out-rebounded the Panthers, 40-39, and FGCU scored 20 points off 15 FIU turnovers on the night.

FIU returns to action on Monday, Nov. 19, when the Panthers travel to Bowling Green, Ky., to open the Sun Belt Conference season versus WKU. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.
ET from E.A. Diddle Arena. Stay tuned to FIUSports.com for live stats and additional viewing information.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWBasketball) 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).

About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's 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 and enrolls nearly 48,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.