Box Score MIAMI (Feb. 1, 2014) - The FIU women's basketball team used an 11-7 run over the last two minutes of play to defeat in-state rival Florida Atlantic, 76-74, Saturday evening from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. This is the second time this season the Panthers have defeated the Owls, as the two teams met earlier in the year on Jan. 15.
FIU (10-10, 4-3 C-USA) had four players register double-figure point numbers tonight, as senior Jerica Coley led the way with 36. This was the 11th time the St. Petersburg, Fla., native has scored 30-plus. Juniors Kamika Idom and Tynia McKinzie contributed 10 each, while sophomore Taylor Shade also added 10 points. Coley also had a season-high 12 rebounds to pick up her fourth double-double on the year. She also produced six assists, four blocks and a steal. McKinzie grabbed six boards and Shade had five. Florida Atlantic (12-8, 2-5 C-USA) was led by Kimberly Smith who had 22 points, three assists and two steals. The Panthers had another solid all-around performance, out-rebounding FAU, 43-32, and hitting 29-of-60 of their shots from the field, including a 53.5 percent (15-of-28) performance from Coley. FIU also had 19 second chance points compared to the Owls' 12.
The Panthers opened the game on a 10-1 run over the first three minutes of play. The Owls gradually chipped away at their deficit and pulled within three at the 6:09 mark, but a Shade's 3-point basket 30 seconds later put that to rest. FAU got within three two more times until four-consecutive made free-throws put the Owls ahead by one. Florida Atlantic went into the break on a 12-4 run over the last five minutes of the half leading 33-31.
FIU opened the second half hitting its first two baskets, but an Owl trey quickly stopped the run. The two teams traded baskets over the next 4:30 of action. With 15:12 remaining in the game, Florida Atlantic went on a 9-0 run to take its largest lead of the night, 51-43. FIU was held without a field-goal until the 12:17 mark when redshirt junior Arielle Durant hit a second-chance layup. From there, FIU went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 53-all with 7:59 remaining. The game stayed extremely close as both teams went on runs and exchanged baskets over the 3:30 of play. One minute later, FIU put together its game-winning run, which was sparked by a Coley layup. Next up, FIU heads to San Antonio to take on the USTA Roadrunners on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Game time is slated for 8 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). The official hashtag of the 2013-14 FIU athletic season is PantherNation.
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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 U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/
