Game Notes (PDF)
MIAMI (Feb. 4, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team (10-10, 4-3 C-USA) heads to San Antonio on Wednesday, Feb. 5 to face USTA (11-9, 2-5 C-USA) at the Convocation Center. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. ET.
KEEPING UP WITH THE PANTHERS
Wednesday's game can be viewed by clicking HERE. Live stats are also 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).
SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers and Roadrunners will be meeting for just the third time in program history, with the series being tied, 1-1. The last time these two teams faced each other was on Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. USTA came out on top, 61-54. Then-sophomore Jerica Coley had 14 points, five rebounds, three blocks, one assist and one steal.
SCOUTING FIU
FIU 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 was the second time this season the Panthers have defeated the Owls, as the two teams also met on Jan. 15. Four Panthers registered double-figure point numbers, as 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 points each, while sophomore Taylor Shade also added 10. Coley also had a season-high 12 rebounds to pick up her fourth double-double of the year. She produced six assists, four blocks and a steal. McKinzie grabbed six boards, while Shade had five. The Panthers had a solid all-around performance, out-rebounding FAU, 43-32, and hitting 29-of-60 shots from the field (48.3 percent), including a 53.5 percent (15-of-28) performance from Coley from the floor. FIU also had 19 second chance points compared to the Owls' 12.
#HolyColey
The reigning two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and 2013-14 C-USA Preseason Player of the Year has done it all this season. She currently leads the nation in scoring, averaging 30.3 points-per-game. She has scored double-figures in all 20 contests this season and in 109-of-118 career games. Coley also has registered 18, 20-plus point outings and 11, 30-plus point performances in 2013-14. For her career, she has contributed 75, 20-or-more point games and 29, 30-plus point outings. Coley ranks first on the FIU career charts for scoring average (23.2 ppg) and her career point total of 2,741 also ranks first in program history. This season, the 2012 and 2013 Associated Press All-America selection has been responsible for 43.5 percent of the Panthers' scoring efforts. For her career, she has scored 36.6 percent of FIU's total points. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native leads FIU in eight statistical categories – field goals made (216); three-point field goals made (30); free-throws made (144); assists (84, 4.2 apg); steals (33, 1.7 spg); blocks (25, 1.3 bpg); minutes played (38.7 mpg); and points (606, 30.3 ppg). The senior point guard, who scored a career-high and school record 47 points versus Wake Forest (12/29/13), has scored 40-or-more points twice this season, adding another record-breaking performance against Tulsa. On Jan. 18, she broke four building records at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla., with her 43 points. It was only the eighth time a Panther has scored 40-plus points in a single game.
SCOUTING USTA
USTA (11-9, 2-5 C-USA) has dropped three-straight Conference USA games, most recently on the road against LA Tech on Saturday, 71-50. The Roadrunners were led by senior Miki Turner's 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Freshman Tesha Smith added 10 points, all in the first half, to join Turner in double-digits. For the season, USTA has two players players averaging double-figure points, led by junior Kamara King at 14.5 points-per-game. She is followed by Turner, who adds 10.0 points and a team-high 63 assists (3.2 apg). As a team, UTSA ranks last in C-USA in scoring, averaging 60.8 points-per-game, and second-to-last in scoring margin (-2.4), field-goal percentage (.368), free-throw percentage (.368) and assist/turnover ratio (0.6).
THE COACHES
Head Coach Cindy Russo has led her squads to 699 victories over 37 years, making her the ninth-winningest active coach in Division I. For her career, Russo has amassed an overall record of 699-374, and owns a record of 660-352 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 Roadrunners are led by first-year Head Coach Lubomyr Lichonczak. He has spent 11 years as part of the USTA coaching staff, including the last nine as the associate head coach. He was hired prior to the 2002-03 season and spent two campaigns as an assistant before being promoted associate head coach. Lichonczak primarily worked with the post players and served as the program's scouting coordinator and team academic liaison, as well as assisting with scheduling and recruiting.
#PantherNation
Fans who 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/
