Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Jan. 12, 2013) – Led by junior Jerica Coley's 37 points, the FIU women's basketball team defeated Sun Belt Conference rival UALR, 55-53, at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday afternoon in a nationally-televised game on ESPN3 and the Sun Belt Network.

With the victory, the Panthers improve to 10-6 (4-3 SBC), while the Trojans fall to 11-5 (4-4 SBC). The win marks FIU's first over UALR since 2008, also marking the Panthers' first victory in Little Rock since 2006.

FIU scored the first bucket of the contest and never let up, as the Panthers took a 32-25 lead into the halftime break. For the stanza, Coley registered 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 9-of-12 shooting from the free throw line.

In the second half, UALR battled back to knot the score at 36-36 before Coley scored six-straight points to put FIU back on top at 42-36 with 11:51 left to play. The Trojans
would not go away, pulling to within two at 50-48, and Coley struck again, scoring on a layup to put the score at 52-48.

UALR would then sink three free throws and a pair of technical free throws to go ahead at 53-52 with 1:13 remaining in the contest. Following a timeout, Coley connected on a jumper to give FIU a 54-53 advantage with 52 seconds left to play, and the Panthers held on for the 55-53 victory.

Coley led all scorers with 37 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor and 16-of-21 shooting from the charity stripe, as she has now scored in double-figures in 15 of 16 contests this season and in 72 of 82 career contests. The 30-plus, point performance marks her fifth of the campaign, and the 20-plus, point performance marks her ninth of the season. Coley also added a team-high-tying five rebounds, squad-high totals of three blocks and two steals, and two assists on the day.

Sophomore Kamika Idom also pulled down five boards, and senior Carmen Miloglav dished out a team-high four assists.

The Panthers committed a season-low nine turnovers against 14 setbacks for the Trojans. As a team, FIU shot 38.6 percent (17-of-44) from the field while holding UALR to 34.0 percent (17-of-50) percent shooting. The Trojans out-rebounded the Panthers, 37-28, for the contest.

FIU will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 17, when the Panthers host SBC foe North Texas. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. from U.S. Century Bank Arena.

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