Box Score Box Score (PDF)
MIAMI (Nov. 8, 2013) – The FIU women's basketball team fell to the Florida Golf Coast Eagles, 75-55, Friday evening in its home opener on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena in Miami, Fla.
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.
The first half was a seesaw battle from the start, with FIU and FGCU trading baskets for the first 10 minutes of the contest. FGCU possessed one of the largest leads of the half at 15-7 before the Panthers came roaring from behind with back-to-back trey's by Coley and Labady, plus a layup by Shade to knot the game up at 15-15. FIU couldn't keep the momentum on their side as they went into the locker room down 36-19 after the Eagles closed the half on a 15-0 run.
The Panthers weren't able to keep pace with the fast-paced Eagles in the second half, ultimately falling to FGCU, 75-55
The Panthers will now embark on a three-game road trip with contests at UCF (11/15), Harvard (11/19) and Boston College (11/21) before returning home for the FIU Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 29.
FIU women's basketball season and single-game tickets can be purchased by calling the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIUGAME, or by logging on to FIUSports.com.
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/.
