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MIAMI (Jan. 8, 2014) – Senior
Jerica Coley had a night for the record books, as the 5-foot-7 guard's 16-point performance moved her into the top spot of the FIU women's basketball program's all-time scoring chart, as the Panthers opened Conference USA play with a, 59-41, loss to the Rice Owls on Wednesday evening from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in C-USA play. The Owls improve to 8-6 and 1-0 in conference play.
Coley now sits atop the FIU's women's basketball all-time points list with 2,524 points, surpassing Albena Branzova (2,515 points), following tonight's effort. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native is currently No. 2 in the nation in scoring and leads C-USA as the one of two players with 300-or-more points. Coley made history during her junior year, finishing the season with 840 points, a single-season school record, as she led the Panthers to their second-straight Postseason WNIT appearance. The two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and 2013-14 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year is the only player in FIU history to record 2,000-plus points, 600 rebounds and 300 assists in a career and scored a building record 47 points on Dec. 29 against Wake Forest.
Coley finished the game with 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks on and one steal, recording her second double-double of the season. Sophomore guard
Taylor Shade chipped in 10 points, while redshirt sophomore guard
Brianna Wright grabbed a team-high 13 boards.
The Panthers got off to a rocky start, falling behind quickly 11-2 in the first four minutes of play. Following the first media timeout, junior
Zsofia Labady hit a shot from behind the arch to put the team on an 11-1 run midway through the first half. The run included back-to-back steals and two Coley layups, to put FIU ahead, 13-12. The remainder of the half featured runs from both sides, but the Panthers could not seem to take the lead more than twice and went into the break trailing, 26-20.
The Owl defense held Coley to only six points, going 2-of-13 from the floor and forced three turnovers in the first half. She led the team with eight rebounds and three assists.
Rice came out of the break blazing, hitting back-to-back jumpers and a layup in the first three minutes. The Panthers did not get back on the board until Coley hit a trey with 15:03 remaining in the game. The shot was the one that moved her into first place all-time. She hit two more jumpers and a three pointer, but FIU could not match Rice's offensive attack. The Owls went on a 15-6 run over the next 10 minutes. With the score 47-27, Labady ended the run hitting from 3-point range. FIU remained down by double-digits for the remainder of the game, eventually falling, 59-41.
FIU continues conference play this Saturday, hosting East Carolina at 6 p.m., as Coley looks to continue her scoring rampage.
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
