FIU Game Notes
MIAMI (Feb. 25, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team (12-14, 6-7 C-USA) will begin its second-to-last road stretch of the regular season when it heads to Charlotte to take on the 49ers (12-13, 6-7 C-USA) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.
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. Fans can also follow the action live on Twitter (@FIUWBasketball). Coverage of Wednesay's matchup can also be seen by clicking HERE and can heard via online radio by clicking HERE.
SERIES HISTORY
FIU and Charlotte are meeting for only the second time in the series on Wednesday, and the first in the city of Charlotte. The Panthers and 49ers are also meeting for the first time as conference opponents as Charlotte is also new to C-USA, coming over from the Atlantic 10. The last time these two teams faced off was back on Dec. 16, 2002, where FIU posted a 71-58 victory in Miami.
SCOUTING FIU
FIU is coming off a 77-66 victory over Marshall on Saturday that snapped a four-game losing skid for the Panthers. Jerica Coley had a game-high 35 points, while two other Panthers registered double-digits as sophomore Taylor Shade added 17 and junior Tynia McKinizie netted 10. Seven of the eight Panther players who saw action Saturday reached the scoreboard. Coley also contributed five assists, four blocks and two steals for the night. The Panthers had another solid all-around performance, out-rebounding the Herd, 41-36, and hitting 16 of their 20 shots from the free-throw line. FIU also had 20 second-chance points compared to Marshall's five, large in part due to Coley. The Panthers also added 20 points off 18 Thundering Herd turnovers. The current C-USA Player of the Week continues to lead the Panthers on the season with her 29.6 point-per-game average, while McKinzie is pulling down a team-best 7.1 rebounds.
#HolyColey
FIU's Jerica Coley is coming off one of her best all-around performances of her career. In addition to leading the conference and tying for first the nation in scoring (29.6 ppg), Coley sits atop the FIU career charts for scoring average (23.4 ppg) and her career point total of 2,904 also ranks first in program history. The senior sensation has scored in double-figures in all 26 contests this season and in 115-of-124 career games. Coley also has registered 23, 20-plus point outings and 13, 30-plus point performances in 2013-14. For her career she has contributed 80, 20-or-more point games and 31, 30-plus point outings. This season, the 2012 and 2013 Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention selection has been responsible for 42.9 percent of the Panthers' scoring efforts, and for her career, she has scored 36.8 percent of FIU's total points. She also leads her team in nine statistical categories: scoring (29.6 ppg), field-goal percentage (.421), field goals made (271), free throw percentage (.826), free throws made (185), three-point field-goals made (42), assists (4.2 apg), steals (1.8 spg), blocked shots (1.3 bpg) and minutes played (38.9). 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. Coley was recently selected as the Conference USA Player of the Week (week ending in Feb. 23), a Nancy Lieberman Award finalist, a Third Team Capital One Academic All-American and a Senior CLASS Award finalist.
SCOUTING CHARLOTTE
Charlotte recently went toe-to-toe with preseason C-USA favorite and current league leader Middle Tennessee, but was unable to sustain it down the stretch, dropping a 48-46 decision Saturday. Senior Ny Hammonds led Charlotte with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. As a team, the 49ers are fourth in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and third in free throw percentage at 72.4 percent. Hammonds and redshirt junior Gabby Tyler lead Charlotte in scoring with an average of 11.9 points apiece. Tyler also takes the lead in rebounding grabbing 7.6 boards per contest to rank ninth in C-USA.
THE COACHES
Head Coach Cindy Russo recently picked up her 700th (Feb. 4, 2014) 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 701-376, and owns a record of 662-354 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 49ers are led by Cara Consuegra, who is in her third season at Charlotte. In her two full seasons with the Charlotte 49ers, Consuegra is already off to the best start for any women's basketball coach in school history. This past season, the 49ers put together a stellar campaign to conclude their stay in the Atlantic 10. Charlotte finished with 26-6 mark, the second best in school history and in the state, while the 13-1 conference record helped assure the program of its 11th-straight postseason berth.
#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/
