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MIAIM (Feb. 12, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team fell, 65-58, to conference-rival Middle Tennessee Wednesday night from Lime Court at FIU arena. With the loss, the Panthers dip to 11-12 on the season and 5-5 in Conference USA, while the Blue Raiders improve to 20-4 overall and 9-1 in the league.

Senior Jerica Coley led all scorers in the game with 29 points, while juniors Zsofia Labady and Arielle Durant each contributed eight points for FIU. Coley also grabbed 12 boards to register her fifth double-double on the year, while Durant pulled down a career-best 13. MTSU's Ebony Rowe also finished with a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

The first half was tightly played as it featured nine lead changes and four ties. Rowe hit two free-throws to complete a 6-0 run at the 9:52 mark. Trailing 17-14, a Labady long jumper and back-to-back Coley layups put the Panthers ahead by one. FIU then extended its lead to five with junior Kamika Idom's jumper. Following the final media timeout of the first, the Blue Raiders went on a 6-1 run to close out the half.

The second half mirrored the first with both teams exchanging baskets and going on runs. The most important run, however, began with 9:24 left in the game when MTSU took its largest lead of the night. With the score 40-49, the Panthers went on a 10-2 scoring run after a Coley three-point basket. The Blue Raiders quickly broke the momentum netting the next six points off of Panther turnovers. Coley would hit a couple threes late, but it was too little too late as the Blue Raiders hit their last eight free-throws to finish the game.

For the game, FIU shot 32.8 percent (21-of-64) while MTSU was 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from the floor. The Panthers also fell short in the in the paint where MTSU scored 30 points and FIU only had 16.

Next up, FIU heads to New Orleans to take on Tulane on Saturday, Feb. 15. The game will tip off in Devlin Fieldhouse at 3 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, visit http://www.fiu.edu/