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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 21, 2013) – The FIU women's basketball team fell to the Florida Gators, 90-74, in the championship game of the 2013 Gator Holiday Classic. Despite outscoring the Gators in the second half, Florida jumped out to a 53-34 first half lead and would never look back.

Senior Jerica Coley registered a game-high 35 points, converting on 13 field goals, three of them coming from 3-point range. The two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and 2013-14 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year extended her streak to 40-straight games scoring in double-figures, dating back to her junior year. It's the 32nd time since the 2012-13 season that Coley has scored 20-or-more points, and the 15th time she's scored 30-or-more.

Sophomore Taylor Shade added 10 points, going 4-for-9 from the floor and also sank two treys. Redshirt sophomore Brianna Wright collected a team-high nine rebounds, while also tallying nine points. Junior Kamika Idom scored eight points in the effort.

The Gators jumped out to a 4-0 lead and built their lead to 10-4 with 17:08 remaining. A 3-point play by junior Tynia McKinzie and a jumper by Coley cut the Florida lead to 10-9 with 16:23 to go in the first half. The Gators put together a 7-0 run over a 1:03 span to take a 17-9 advantage just shy of 15:30 to go.

Coley grabbed the ball of the Gators shot, went coast-to-coast and made a rebound, cutting the deficit to seven, 20-13, with 11:30 remaining. Coley then hit a trey just before the 9-minute mark, making the score 28-19. McKinzie followed with back-to-back buckets, as the Panthers trailed by 11, 34-23, with seven minutes left in the first. A Coley trey and Shade jumper at 3:45 cut the deficit to 44-26. A last second Gator jump shot sent FIU into halftime trailing, 53-34.

Coley led all scorers through the first 20 minutes with 19 points, going 8-of-14 from the floor and grabbing a team-high tying three boards. McKinzie added seven points on a 3-of-5 shooting performance and hit her one free-throw of the half. She and Wright also grabbed three rebounds each. The Panthers shot 50 percent through the first 20 minutes, hitting 15-of-30 shots and went 2-of-7 from beyond the arc. FIU held a 17-13 advantage on the boards over Florida.

Wright opened the second half with a jumper and Idom drained a three to put the Panthers on a 5-1 run in the first two minutes of the half. Coley then drained a trey of her own at the 16:15 mark, as FIU trailed 60-40. With 14:46 to play, Idom hit a 3-pointer, which was followed by a Wright jumper. Redshirt junior Arielle Durant then hit a shot from 3-point range, making the score 70-52. Coley's jumper just shy of six minutes remaining brought the Panthers within 10 points, 77-67. Shade followed with her second trey of the night, while Coley hit another 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in the game.

FIU shot 43 percent from the floor (29-of-68) and shot 54 percent from the line (8-of-15) for the game. The Panthers held an edge in rebounds, 38-to-31, while forcing 12 Florida turnovers.

After the game, Coley was named to the 2013 Gator Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team. Below is a complete listing of the team.

Jerica Coley, FIU
I'mani Davis, Tennessee State
Christin Mercer, Florida
Micahya Owens, La Salle
MVP: Cassie Peoples, Florida

FIU will host the Sun & Fun Classic next weekend, with the Panthers first game coming on Saturday, Dec. 28 against Fairleigh Dickinson. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

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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/.