FIU Game Notes
MIAMI (Feb. 21, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team (11-14, 5-7 C-USA) returns home to take on Marshall (9-16, 2-10 C-USA) on Saturday, Feb. 22. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. ET from Lime Court in FIU Arena.
PROMOTIONS
Saturday's game will serve as the Panthers' annual Pink/Play 4Kay game, helping to raise awareness for breast cancer. The FIU Athletic Department will continue to sell $1 raffle tickets until halftime of the men's game with Tulsa which starts at 2 p.m. Fans will have a chance to win pink, team-signed basketballs, with all proceeds from the men's raffle benefiting the Susan G. Komen Fund and the proceeds from the women's basketball raffle benefiting the Play 4 Kay initiative. The winners of the month-long raffle will be announced during halftime.
KEEPING UP WITH THE PANTHERS
Live stats are available for all games and can be accessed via the FIU women's basketball schedule page at FIUSports.com. A FREE live video stream for all FIU home games is also available via PantherVision, by clicking HERE, and fans can also follow the action live on Twitter (@FIUWBasketball).
PLAY 4KAY
FIU's annual Pink event will, once again, run in conjunction with the Play 4Kay initiative, which is an opportunity for women's basketball across the nation to raise awareness for breast cancer. Since its inception in 2007, the Play 4Kay initiative has raised over $2.8 million to support women's cancer research. The Panthers were a part of both UTEP's and Tulane's Play 4Kay games on Saturday, Feb. 8, and Saturday, Feb. 15, respectively, and will now hold its home event against Marshall on Saturday, Feb. 21. FIU will wear several pink accessories including shoes, socks and headbands. Fans are also encouraged to wear pink to show their support.
SERIES HISTORY
FIU and Marshall are meeting for only the second time in program history and first in Miami. The Panthers won the first and only meeting on Dec. 15, 2004, by a score of 61-58, in Orlando during the UCF Christmas Classic Tournament.
SCOUTING FIU
FIU heads into its matchup with Marshall with a record of 11-14 overall and 5-7 in Conference USA games. Last time out, the Panthers dropped a 106-96 decision against Southern Miss despite leading by nine at the half. FIU was led in scoring by senior Jerica Coley who dropped another 47-point performance, which was record for most points in a C-USA game. She also added five rebounds, five assists and four steals. In addition, the 5-foot-8 point guard shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the field, 50.0 percent (3-of-6) from behind the arch and 80.0 percent (16-of-20) from the free-throw line. This marks the third time this season she has netted 40-plus points and the 12th time she has scored 30-plus. Coley was followed by junior Tynia McKinzie who produced 15 points, while junior Zsofia Labady and sophomore Taylor Shade had nine each. Labady also pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Coley leads the team and ranks second in the nation in scoring with an average of 29.4 points-per-game, while McKinzie pulls down team-best 7.1 rebounds-per-game. As a team, FIU ranks first in the league in free-throw percentage, hitting 390 of its 511 attempts, for a .763 percentage.
#HolyColey
In addition to ranking second in the nation in scoring (29.4 ppg), Jerica Coley sits atop the FIU career charts for scoring average (23.3 ppg) and her career point total of 2,869 also ranks first in program history. The senior sensation has scored in double-figures in all 25 contests this season and in 114-of-123 career games. Coley also has registered 22, 20-plus point outings and 12, 30-plus point performances in 2013-14. For her career she has contributed 79, 20-or-more point games and 30, 30-plus point outings. This season, the 2012 and 2013 Associated Press All-America selection has been responsible for 42.7 percent of the Panthers' scoring efforts, and for her career, she has scored 36.7 percent of FIU's total points. Coley also leads her team in nine additional statistical categories: field-goal percentage (.419), field goals made (259), free-throw percentage (.831), free-throws made (177), three-point field-goals made (39), assists (4.1 apg), steals (1.8 spg), blocked shots (1.2 bpg) and minutes played (38.8). The 5-foot-8 point guard, who scored a career-high and school-record 47 points versus Wake Forest (12/29/13), has scored 40-or-more points three times this season, including another 47-point performance against Southern Miss (2/19/14). It was only the ninth time a Panther player has scored 40 or more points in a single game.
SCOUTING MARSHALL
Marshall had one of its biggest wins of the season last week, defeating Charlotte, 71-96. The Thundering Herd halted an eight-game losing streak the week before that, downing Louisiana Tech, 69-55, which was their first win of the 2014 C-USA campaign. Marshall comes into Saturday's game with a 9-16 overall record and a 2-10 mark in conference play. Last time out, the Thundering Herd suffered a 75-36 loss to Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Despite all 12 of its active roster players reaching the scoreboard, no Marshall player found double-digits, as freshman McKenzie Akers led the team from the field with seven points. It was the first time in two years that Marshall has scored less than 40 points in a game. For the year, junior Leah Scott leads the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points-per-game, while senior Suporia Dickens adds 9.0 points-per-game and a team-high 6.8 rebounds-per-contest.
THE COACHES
Head Coach Cindy Russo recently picked up her 700th (2/5/14) career victory at UTSA. Over 37 years of coaching, she is the ninth-winningest active coach in Division I. For her career, Russo has amassed an overall record of 700-378, and owns a record of 661-356 in 35 seasons at FIU. Her 34 full seasons at FIU are the fifth-most across all NCAA institutions, regardless of division, for number of seasons spent with one program.
The Thundering Herd is led by second-year head coach Matt Daniel, who in his first year at Marshall had a record of 9-21. Prior to arriving in Huntington, he quickly built a successful NCAA Division I program at Central Arkansas. Daniel, known for his spirited and tireless personality, finished his final three seasons at UCA with a 66-26 reocrd.
#PantherNation
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/
