MIAMI (Nov. 29, 2014) – The women's basketball team (0-4) will take on Virginia (4-1) from Lime Court at FIU Arena on Sunday in the consolation round of the FIU Thanksgiving Classic at 2 p.m. ET. The game will follow the Championship Game between Toledo (2-2) and Arizona (2-2) at 11:30 a.m. ET.
BROADCAST Sunday's game will be live streamed on FIUSports.com. Fans can also follow live stats via FIUSports.com, and there will be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter @FIUWBasketball.
SERIES HISTORY Virginia has won all three meetings against FIU in the series that began in 1990. Two of the three previous matchups have been played in South Florida. The two teams will be facing off for the first time since 2001 where Virginia came away with a 78-65 win in Charlottesville, Va.
SCOUTING FIUFIU enters Sunday's contest after a heartbreaking 65-58 loss to Arizona in the first round of the tournament on Friday. The Panthers will be looking to win its first game of the season under veteran head coach
Cindy Russo. FIU is led in scoring by junior
Taylor Shade, who is averaging 15.5 points-per-game in addition to a team-high tying nine assists. Joining her in double figures is redshirt freshman
Kiandre'a Pound with 15.0 points-per-game and senior
Marita Davydova with 10.8 points-per-game. Davydova leads the Panthers on the boards averaging 10.0 rebounds per contest.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA The Cavaliers suffered their first defeat of the season, falling 64-62 in their opening-round game against Toledo. Virginia held the lead for the majority of the game, but the Rockets chipped away at their deficit as the final minute of play featured three lead changes. With the Cavaliers leading 62-61 with five seconds remaining, their defense gave up a three and fell in the final seconds of play. Virginia as a team ranks third in the ACC with a 38.6 percent three-point shooting percentage led by Faith Randolph who averages 20.2 points-per-game with a .480 field-goal percentage and a .538 three-point field goal percentage.
TICKETSTickets for the Thanksgiving Classic are on sale for $5 each and can be purchased by logging onto FIUSports.com or by calling the FIU ticket office at 305-FIU-GAME (305-348-4263). Season tickets are also currently on sale starting at $30. Single-game tickets are also on sale for $5 each. Tickets can be purchased
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/.
