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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 14, 2014) – The women's basketball team fell to the Jacksonville Dolphins, 76-64, in a game that favored the fast-break offense. The Panthers are now 1-6 on the season, while Jacksonville improves to 6-2.
 
FIU was led in scoring by Tynia McKinzie's season-high 18 points. McKInzie also pulled down three rebounds and dished out three assists, while shooting 100 percent (8-for-8) from the free throw line. Joining McKinzie in double-figures was redshirt freshman Kiandre'a Pound with 17, junior Taylor Shade with 14 and senior Marita Davydova with 10. Davydova also pulled down 10 rebounds to notch her first double-double of the season.
 
Jacksonville was the first team all year to out-rebound the Panthers as it pulled down 43 boards compared to 37 from FIU. JU also shot 47.8 percent (33-of-69) and the Panthers were only 34.4 percent (21-of-61) for the floor. The game was a face-paced affair which favored the Dolphins as they had 18 fast-break points compared to only four for the Panthers.
 
The Panthers got off to a hot start, which included back-to-back second chance layups by Pound and Davydova. Jacksonville quickly responded with eight unanswered points while holding FIU without a field goal for over four minutes. The Panthers remained strong, tying the game at 12 with 12:12 left to go in the first. From there, both teams only scored two points in over five minutes of play. With the scored tied at 14-14 and 6:33 remaining, the Dolphins went on a 12-4 run to over a span of three minutes to take their largest lead of the afternoon, 26-18. After scoring the next four points to pull back within four, JU converted an old fashioned three-point play with eight seconds left in the half and went into the break with a 29-22 lead. The Dolphins out-rebounded the Panthers 29-19 in the first, which was the first time all season FIU was out-rebounded in the first half of play.
 
The Dolphins continued to roll coming out of the locker room, going on a 13-7 run over the opening 4:25 of the second. McKinzie broke the spell with a nice move under the basket with 13:37 left to go. The Panthers continued to chip away at the lead over the next five minutes, pulling within eight. After pulling back within single digits at the 4:08 mark, the Dolphins responded by hitting back-to-back threes. FIU could not stop Jacksonville offensively as they fell, 76-64.
 
Next up, the Panthers return to Jacksonville, Fla., next weekend when they participate in the Hampton Inn Ocean Front Holiday Classic hosted by UNF. FIU first takes on Western Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 20 with a 1 p.m. ET tipoff. The Panthers will then face Wofford on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. ET.
 
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 offer 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 $8.9 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/.