FIU Notes | Tennesee Tech Notes | C-USA Notebook 

MIAMI (Nov. 13, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team will open its 2014-15 season on Friday when the Panthers host Tennessee Tech at FIU Arena. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET.
 
The Panthers and Golden Eagles will be meeting for the third time in program history and for the second-consecutive season. FIU owns a 2-0 record against Tennessee Tech which included a 70-65 victory from the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn. The Panthers shot 42.1 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Eagles, 41 to 26.
 
Both FIU and Tennessee Tech came out on top in exhibition contests, as the Panthers defeated Palm Beach Atlantic, 73-46, and Barry, 60-57; while the Golden Eagles edged Tennessee Wesleyan, 82-46.
 
GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
Here is everything you need to know about what will be happening before, during and after Friday night's games:
 

• PIG ROAST TAILGATE BEFORE THE WOMEN'S GAME - At 3:30 p.m. on the plaza in front of FIU Arena, FIU Campus Life will present a free pig roast tailgate which will include a "12th Panther" jersey giveaway, free food, music courtesy of the Miami Heat's DJ M Dot and more in front of FIU Arena. ESPN Deportes and shopFIU will also be on hand with giveaways during the tailgate.

 

• GOOD ATTENDANCE = FREE TEAM GEAR - Not only do students get to attend every game for free with a valid student ID, this season students will be rewarded for supporting the blue and gold! Student attendance punch cards will be available inside the student gate at both the women's and men's basketball games. Students who attend 10 women's basketball home games this season will receive free official team gear at the end of the season. If you attend nine men's basketball games this season, you will also receive free official team gear at the end of the season.

 

• AUTOGRAPHS - Between the conclusion of the women's game and tip-off for the men's game, there will be a women's basketball autograph session in the arena lobby.

 

• POST-GAME PARTY (WITH MORE FREE FOOD) - Immediately following the final buzzer of the men's game, the party continues on the arena plaza with a student post-game party with free pizza and more music from DJ M Dot.

 
 
FOLLOWING THE PANTHERS
Fans can follow Friday's game by logging onto FIUSports.com. FIU's Pete Pelegrin will call the action accompanied by live video feed and live scoring. In-game updates will also be available on Twitter via @FIUWBasketball.
 
 
THE MATCHUP
The Panthers, under the direction of veteran head coach Cindy Russo, welcome back eight letterwinners from a season ago, along with four newcomers to its roster for the 2014-15 season. FIU went 15-18 overall a season ago while holding a 6-10 mark in Conference USA action. After earning the 13th seed coming into the Conference USA Tournament, FIU won three consecutive games to earn its way to the semifinals. The 13th seed was the lowest seed to reach the semifinals of a C-USA Tournament.
 
The Golden Eagles return seven letterwinners from last year's squad that finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference and went 12-18 overall. Tennessee Tech is under the direction of third-year head coach Jim Davis, who is 31-30 during his time in Cookeville, Tenn.
 
THE COACHES
In 39 years of women's basketball at FIU, Head Coach Cindy Russo has been the driving force for 35 of them. Over that time, she has guided FIU to 22-consecutive winning seasons (1981-2003) and at least 20 victories on 18 occasions. Russo has led her teams to six NCAA Division I Tournament berths, seven Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournaments (WNIT) and two NCAA Division II Tournaments, in addition to winning eight regular season conference titles and seven tournament crowns. Russo enters the 2014-15 campaign as the ninth-winningest active coach in Division I women's basketball. The veteran head coach owns a career record of 704-385 over 37 seasons, and a record of 665-360 in 35 seasons at FIU.
 
Tennessee Tech is under the direction of Jim Davis, who enters his third season at the helm of the Golden Eagles women's basketball program. Davis led Tech to a 31-30 record and an Ohio Valley Conference Regular season championship in 2013.
 
SCOUTING FIU
Returning for FIU are two of its top three scorers from last year in Taylor Shade (9.5 ppg) and Tynia McKinzie (9.4 ppg); however, Panthers look to replace three-time All-American Jerica Coley who contributed over 40 percent of FIU's scoring offense a year ago. After redshirting last year, senior Marita Davydova also returns as the Panthers' top rebounder from two years ago. She earned her first-career All-Sun Belt Conference nod in 2012-13, picking up third-team accolades in her first year at FIU. Davydova led the Panthers in rebounding with an average of 8.8 boards-per-game. She recorded 10 or more rebounds in 15 contests and led the Panthers in rebounding on 23 occasions. She also posted a team-leading 10 double-doubles in the 2012-13 season.
 
SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH
Tennessee Tech was selected by the league's coaches to finish fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference. Despite returning 52 percent of their scoring from last season, Tech adds four newcomers to an already deep bench which includes three freshmen and a JUCO transfer.
 
Season tickets are currently on sale starting at $30. Single-game tickets are also on sale for $5 each. Tickets can be purchased by logging onto FIUSports.com or by calling the FIU ticket office at 305-FIU-GAME (305-348-4263).
 
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).
 
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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 FIU Arena and Ocean BankField at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers 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 contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.