Gametracker
MIAMI (Nov. 14, 2013) – The FIU women's basketball team heads upstate on Friday to take on the UCF Knights at 7 p.m. at CFE Arena.
Last Time Out
FIU is coming off a 75-55 season opening loss to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Nov. 8 on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. Sophomore Taylor Shade posted career-highs in points (18) and minutes (36) while senior Jerica Coley extended her streak of scoring in double-figures to 31, dating back to her junior season. The last team to hold Coley under 10 points was FGCU (9 pts.) a season ago. Coley finished with 17 points in 37 minutes. Redshirt-freshman Brianna Wright pulled down a team-high 10 boards, while junior Zsofia Labady and freshman Karrah Johnson finished with seven points apiece in the loss.
Scouting UCF
UCF enters Friday's contest with a 2-0 record with wins coming over Oakland and Central Connecticut State. The Knights are led by Briahanna Jackson, who has averaged 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds through two contests. Sara Djassi is averaging 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds through two games for UCF as well.
#HolyColey
Coley, who earned her second-consecutive Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention nod in 2012-13 and is the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, led the nation in scoring last season with an average of 26.3 points per game. The point guard scored a single-season school record 840 points, leading FIU to its third-straight Sun Belt Conference Championship semi-final appearance and the program's second-straight Postseason WNIT berth.
FIU Head Coach Cindy Russo
Head Coach Cindy Russo has led her squads to 689 victories over 37 years, making her the ninth-winningest active coach in Division I. For her career, Russo has amassed an overall record of 689-365, and owns a record of 649-343 in 35 seasons at FIU. Her 34 full seasons at FIU are the fifth-most across all NCAA institutions, regardless of division, for number of seasons spent with one program.
Coley up for the Senior Class Award
Coley has been recognized as one of 60 men's and women's basketball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court for the 2013-14 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate basketball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
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). The official hashtag of the 2013-14 FIU athletic season is PantherNation.
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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 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 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s 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/.
