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MIAMI (Jan. 5, 2014) - The FIU women's basketball team (6-7) rolled past the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish, 78-44, Sunday afternoon from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Senior Jerica Coley scored 31 points, going 10-of-21 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the line, and is only seven points away from tying Albena Branzova atop the Panthers' all-time scoring chart with 2,515 points. The two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and 2013-14 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year extended her streak to 43-straight games scoring in double-figures, dating back to her junior year. It's the 35th time since the 2012-13 season that Coley has scored 20-or-more points and the 17th time she's scored 30-plus.

Three other Panthers scored in double-figures, as Tynia McKinzie had 13 points (6-of-12), sophomore Taylor Shade netted 12 points (5-of-7) and redshirt sophomore Brianna Wright scored 10 points, going 2-of-6 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the line and collected the team's only double-double, finishing with 11 boards. It's the second time in three games the Titusville, Fla., native has earned a double-double.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Coley and Shade in the first four minutes tied the game at 7-all. With the Sailfish leading 17-12, Coley drove coast-to-coast to cut PBA's lead to three points with 9:48 to go in the half. Her jumper one minute later gave FIU back the lead, 19-17. Shade and Coley drained back-to-back treys for the second time in the half with just over 3:45 to play, which put the Panthers ahead by 10 points, 31-21. FIU went into the half leading 35-26.

Coley led all scores in the first half with 18 points, shooting 6-of-11 and hitting two 3-pointers. Wright led the Panthers with six boards and went 3-of-4 from the line for five points through the first 20 minutes. Shade was 2-of-3 from 3-point range and finished with eight points. FIU shot 39 percent from the floor (11-of-32) and hit 70 percent of its free-throws (7-of-10). 

FIU opened the second half on a 10-3 run, with Coley and McKinzie netting 5 points apiece, as the Panthers led 45-29 with 17:29 to go in the game. Wright was credited with a layup with 10:30 to go, giving FIU a 25-point lead, 58-33, as part of a 15-3 Panther run. Up by 27 points with 4:43 remaining, junior Zsofia Labady sank a trey off a Coley inbound pass. Shade stole PBA's inbound pass and drove to the basket with under one minute remaining. FIU held the Sailfish scoreless for the final 4:16 of the game. 

The Panthers finished the game shooting 48 percent (27-of-56) from the floor and 70 percent (19-of-27) from the free-throw line. Each team scored 28 points in the paint, although FIU's bench outscored PBA's, 15-6.

FIU opens conference play this Wednesday, hosting the Rice Owls at 6 p.m., as Coley looks to take over first place as the program's all-time leading scorer. 

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/