Box Score MIAMI, Fla. (Jan. 17, 2013) – The FIU women's basketball team dropped a narrow 70-68 decision to Sun Belt Conference opponent North Texas on Thursday night at U.S. Century Bank Arena. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 10-7 (4-4 SBC), while the Mean Green improves to 7-10 (6-2 SBC).

In the first half, FIU went ahead by as many as nine points, taking a 27-18 advantage at the 4:54 mark. NT would then cut the lead to two at 32-30 before junior Jerica Coley connected on a jumper to give the Panthers a 34-30 advantage at halftime.

Four minutes into the second stanza, the Mean Green took its first lead of the contest at 42-40, but FIU quickly regained the lead on a three-point play by Coley. The teams would then battle back and forth until NT went ahead, 68-66, with 24 seconds remaining in the contest. A pair of Mean Green free throws made it 70-66 and a jumper from junior Marita Davydova brought FIU back to within two, but NT held on for the 70-68 victory.

Three Panthers scored in double-figures, led by Davydova who registered her sixth double-double of the season with a career-high 18 points and a career-high-tying 15 rebounds. Coley added 15 points, as she has now scored in double-figures in 16 of 17 contests this season and in 73 of 83 career contests, and Mansare chipped in with 12 points.

Coley added team-leading totals of seven assists, two blocks and two steals, while senior Carmen Miloglav also picked up two steals on the night.

As a team, FIU shot 46.0 percent (29-of-63) from the field while NT connected on 37.5 percent (21-of-56) of its shot attempts. The Panthers out-rebounded the Mean Green, 39-36, and NT registered 15 steals compared to seven swipes for FIU.

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/.