FIU Notes | UCF Notes | C-USA Notes
MIAMI (Dec. 5, 2014) – The women's basketball team (0-5) closes out its four-game home stand on Saturday when it hosts in-state rival UCF (4-2). The game is slated to tip off from Lime Court at FIU Arena at 6 p.m. ET.
BROADCAST Saturday's game can be viewed via Panther Vision on FIUSports.com. There will also be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter @FIUWBasketball.
SERIES HISTORY Saturday's meeting between FIU and UCF will be the 40
th time the two teams will face off. The Panthers hold a 29-10 advantage over the Knights in the series that dates back all the way to 1976. FIU held a 24-game winning streak from 1985-2004, but since 2010 the series is tied at 2-2.
Last year in Orlando, the Panthers dropped a closely-played game, 71-66. Two Panthers scored in double figures, as
Jerica Coley drained 25 points on 11-of-25 shooting. It was the 32
nd time she scored in double-figures and the 24
th time she scored 20-or-more points.
Brianna Wright posted 12 points, going 4-of-9, which is the Titusville, Fla., native's first collegiate double-digit point game. She was one rebound shy of a double-double.
SCOUTING FIUFIU looks to pick up its first win of the season Saturday after falling to Arizona and Virginia in the FIU Thanksgiving Classic last weekend. Redshirt freshman
Kiandre'a Pound recorded back-to-back double-doubles, and junior
Taylor Shade also added double-digit scoring figures in the two-day tournament in addition to tying a career-high eight assists against the Cavaliers. Senior
Marita Davydova tied a career-best 15 rebounds and was one point shy of a double-double against the Wildcats of Arizona.
As a team, FIU leads the conference and ranks seventh in the country with a .778 free throw percentage. The Panthers have three players ranked in the conference's top five as Shade leads the way shooting 88.9 percent from the charity stripe. Pound is third at 86.4 percent and junior
Destini Feagin rounds out the top five shooting 85.7 percent.
Pound and Shade continue to lead FIU in scoring on the season as the dynamic duo averages 15.6 and 14.8 points-per-game, respectively. Pound also leads the Panthers on the boards with 9.2 rebounds-per-game, while Davydova comes in at a close second grabbing 8.6 boards-per-contest. The Panthers also lead the league and are tied for 28
th in the nation out-rebounding opponents by 9.6.
SCOUTING UCFUCF won its fourth game of the season on Tuesday after topping North Florida, 60-56. The Knights had three finish the game in double-figures, led by sophomore Zykira Lewis with 21 points and freshman Aliyah Gregory, who recorded 15 points and hit the go-ahead free throws in the final eight seconds of the game against the Ospreys. Lewis leads UCF and ranks 14
th in the country in scoring with an average of 22.8 points-per-game, while shooting 50.0 percent (27-of-54) from behind the arc to rank second in the country.
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 704-387 over 37 seasons, and a record of 665-365 in 35 seasons at FIU.
UCF is led by former USF point guard Joi Williams, who is in her eighth season at the helm. In her seven seasons building the UCF program, Williams has already compiled an impressive list of accomplishments, including leading the Knights to the 2009 and 2011 NCAA Tournaments after her teams claimed C-USA Championships in those seasons.
POUND NAMED C-USA FRESHMAN OF THE WEEKKiandre'a Pound was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week, which was announced by the league on Monday. This is the first honor for Pound and first C-USA Freshman of the Week award for the Panthers. Pound was a key contributor for the Panthers last weekend at the annual FIU Thanksgiving Classic as she impressed in her first two collegiate starts with a 25-point performance against Arizona and an 18-point effort against (RV) Virginia in the FIU Thanksgiving Classic. The redshirt freshman averaged 21.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in the two-game invitational, producing game-high scoring figures as well as double-doubles in both contests. Pound pulled down 13 rebounds to go along with her 25 points against the Wildcats on Nov. 28. The Vero Beach, Fla., native then scored 18 points and grabbed 11 boards against (RV) Virginia on Nov. 30. Pound earned an FIU Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team nod after shooting 44.1 percent (15-of-34) from the floor and 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from behind the arc, accounting for 61.3 percent of FIU's offensive efforts last weekend with 73 of the Panthers' 119 points. For the season, Pound leads the Panthers in scoring with 15.6 points-per-game and rebounds with 9.2 boards per contest. She is also second on the team in field goal percentage, hitting 45.9 percent of her attempts.
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/.
