FIU Notes | CSU Notes | C-USA Notes
MIAMI (Nov. 22, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team (0-2) will play its first of four home consecutive homes games when it hosts the Cleveland State Vikings (1-2) on Sunday. The game is set to tip off from Lime Court at FIU Arena at 2 p.m. ET.
BROADCAST Sunday's game will be broadcasted via FIUSports.com and live stats will also be available via FIUSports.com. There will be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter @FIUWBasketball.
SERIES HISTORY FIU and Cleveland State will be meeting for fourth time in the series on Sunday. The game will be the first time in 17 years the two teams will matchup. In the last meeting, back on Dec. 20, 1997, FIU came away with a 74-58 victory in Miami. The Panthers have won all three games in the series that dates back to 1987.
SCOUTING FIUFIU heads into the game with an 0-2 record after falling to Tennessee Tech in the season opener and in-state rival Florida Gulf Coast on the road on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Through the two games,
Taylor Shade and
Tynia McKinzie have accounted for 52.3 percent (55-of-105) of FIU's scoring offense. Last time out, Shade scored 12 points and had a career-high five rebounds, while senior
Marita Davydova also had 12 points and a team-best eight boards. Six of Davydova's 12 points came from the free-throw line as she converted on seven attempts for a .857 (6-of-7) percentage.
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE Cleveland State opened the season with a 1-2 record with a win over Toledo and two losses to Florida Atlantic and Minnesota. Senior Cori Colema, a preseason All-Horizon League selection, leads the Vikings averaging 13.0 points and 8.3 rebounds-per-game. Joining her with a double-figure scoring average is first team All-Horizon League honoree Cori Coleman, who posts 17.0 points-per-game and junior Adesuwa Aideyman with 12.0 points-per-contest.
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 is the ninth-winningest active coach in Division I women's basketball. The veteran head coach owns a career record of 704-387 over 37 seasons, and a record of 665-362 in 35 seasons at FIU.
During her 11 years at the helm of the Cleveland State women's basketball team, Head Coach Kate Peterson Abiad has systematically built a program that has turned into one of the perennial contenders in the Horizon League. Throughout her first 11 years at Cleveland State, Peterson Abiad has had a coaching career filled with success, including the highlight of becoming the all-time winningest coach in program history during the 2011-12 season. With a 70-68 victory over Milwaukee on Feb. 18, 2012, Peterson Abiad earned her 116th victory and the title of winningest coach. She enters the 2014-15 season with 145 career wins and a .430 career winning percentage.
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/.
