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Charlotte, N.C. (Feb. 26, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team dropped a 79-68 decision at Charlotte on Wednesday evening from the Halton Arena. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 12-15 on the season and 6-8 in Conference USA, while the 49ers improve to 13-13 overall and 7-6 in the league.

FIU was led in scoring by senior Jerica Coley, who had 30 points off 14 made field goals. It was the 14th time this year, the 5-foot-8 point guard has registered 30-or-more points in a game. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native moved to the number one spot on FIU's all-time field-goals made list with 1,039. In addition, Coley added six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. She was followed by junior Tynia McKinzie, who contributed a career-best 18 points. McKinzie and fellow junior Zsofia Labady finished as the Panthers' top rebounders with eight boards apiece. 

The game opened with both teams exchanging baskets over the first 14 minutes of play as the first half remained extremely close with eight ties and five lead changes. At the 6:53 mark, Charlotte went on a 5-0 scoring run, but FIU answered back to tie things back up at 30-all. With 3:35 remaining in the half, the 49ers held the Panthers to only one field goal as they went into the break with a 37-32 lead.

The second half opened much like the first with FIU getting within one point twice in the first four minutes of the second. After exchanging baskets at the 15:38 mark, Charlotte slowly started to wear down the Panther defense, building its lead up to 17. Despite the last minute effort with buckets from Coley and McKinzie, the Panthers could not get back within single digits.

For the game, FIU shot 44.9 percent (31-of-69) from the floor, while Charlotte hit 53.0 percent (35-of-66) of its attempts. The 49ers out-rebounded the Panthers, 38-31. FIU is now 2-8 when being out-rebounded by the opposition. Charlotte also took advantage of the Panthers' lack of depth with 16 fast-break points and 25 points coming from their bench.

FIU will play its last home regular-season game on Saturday when it hosts Old Dominion. The game is slated to tip at 6 p.m. ET in FIU Arena where the team will honor its senior players.

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/