Box Score HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (March 10, 2013) – Senior Finda Mansare and junior Jerica Coley combined for 44 points, but FIU came up short in the Sun Belt Conference Championship semifinals, falling to top-seeded Middle Tennessee, 68-59, at Summit Arena on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 19-12, while the Blue Raiders improve to 24-7.

FIU went into the halftime break with a 30-24 advantage, as the Panthers held MT to under 40 percent shooting and held a +10 advantage on the boards in the opening period.

The Panthers took their largest lead of the game early in the second period, going up by 10 points as Mansare began the half with back-to-back three-pointers. However, the Blue Raiders went on a run and took the lead with eight minutes remaining in the contest and never looked back, going on for the 68-59 victory.

Mansare and Coley netted 22 points apiece to lead the Panther offense, while junior Marita Davydova secured a team-leading seven rebounds. Coley dished out a team-leading four assists, and senior Carmen Miloglav registered a squad-best four steals on the day.

Coley has now scored in double-figures in 29-straight games, and the 20-point outing marks her 22nd such outing of the campaign. The All-America candidate is one point shy of moving into a tie for second place on the all-time FIU scoring chart with 2,098 career points.

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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