FIU Game Notes
MIAMI (Mar. 4, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team (12-16, 6-9 C-USA) travels to Louisiana Tech (9-19, 4-11 C-USA) in the final regular season game of the 2013-14 season on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET in the Thomas Assembly Center (TAC).
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 Wednesday's matchup can also be seen by clicking HERE and can heard via online radio by clicking HERE.
SERIES HISTORY
The Panthers and Lady Techsters are meeting for the eighth time in the series on Wednesday. Louisiana Tech has won all previous seven meetings, with the last matchup coming back on Feb. 21, 2001 where La. Tech won, 70-63, in Miami. FIU's closest margin, seven, came on that date and earlier in that season with the Lady Techsters defeating the Panthers, 65-58, in Ruston, La.
SCOUTING FIU
FIU is coming into Wednesday's contest dropping two of its last three games, with back-to-back losses on the road at Charlotte and at home versus Old Dominion. The Panthers held in there in the first half during both outings, but they could not overcome poor shooting in the latter half of the two games. Senior Jerica Coley led the FIU offensive charge with an average of 29.5 points on the week, in addition to 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals, while junior Tynia McKinzie contributed an average of 10.0 points, which included a career-high 18 versus the 49ers. The dynamic duo continue to lead the Panthers on the year with Coley averaging a conference-high 29.6 points-per-game and McKinzie averaging a team-best 7.2 rebounds-per-contest.
#HolyColey
Jerica Coley continues to carry the Panther offense as she contributes 43.2 percent of FIU's scoring efforts this season and 37.0 percent for her career. In addition to leading the conference and ranking second in the nation in scoring (29.6 ppg), Coley sits atop the FIU career charts for scoring average (23.5 ppg) and her career point total of 2,963 also ranks first in program history. She is on track to hit the 3,000-point plateau which would make her only the 10th player in NCAA history to hit that mark. The two-time All-American Honorable Mention honoree has scored double digits in all 28 games this season and has produced 20-or more points in all but three outings. With her 29 points against Old Dominion, she extended her streak to 58 consecutive games scoring in double-figures, dating back to the third game of her junior year. For her career she has contributed 82, 20-or-more point games and 32, 30-plus point outings. She also leads her team in eight statistical categories: scoring (29.6 ppg), field-goal percentage (.419), field goals made (297), free throws made (190), three-point field-goals made (44), assists (4.1 apg), steals (1.8 spg), blocked shots (1.4 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 LOUISIANA TECH
Louisiana Tech snapped its two-game losing skid the Saturday night at North Texas, defeating the Mean Green, 67-54. Tech used an aggressive 2-3 zone defense, forcing 20 turnovers, recording 13 steals and holding North Texas to only 31 percent (18-of-59) shooting from the field for the game. Junior Whitney Frazier had a game-high 23 points, while sophomore Lulu Perry added 19 points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block for the Lady Techsters. Frazier and fellow junior Chrisstasia Walter lead the team on the season in scoring with averages of 16.4 and 11.8 points-per-game, respectively. Freshman JaQuan Jackson and Perry also contribute double-digit averages on the year with 11.4 and 11.0 points-per-game, respectively.
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 701-379, and owns a record of 662-357 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 Lady Techsters are under the direction of Teresa Weatherspoon, who is in her sixth season at her alma mater. Weatherspoon has led Louisiana Tech to two WAC Regular Season Championships, a WAC Tournament Championship, a WNIT berth and two NCAA Tournament berths. She has a 226-94 record as a collegiate player, assistant coach and head coach dating back to her freshman season of 1984-85 at Louisiana Tech.
TIGHT C-USA RACE
Aside from No. 1 (Middle Tennessee) and No. 16 (Marshall), no other seed has been locked up for the upcoming Conference USA tournament. In fact, only two games separate second through fifth place as well as sixth through ninth place. Two teams are tied with a 12-3 record, while another two, including FIU, stand at 6-9. Three teams are tied at 5-10 and two, including Louisiana Tech, are tied at 4-11. If the season were to end today, the Panthers would be at the No. 9 seed. Below is a look at how the standing look entering Wednesday's game.
No. 22/25 Middle Tennessee 14-1
Southern Miss 12-3
UTEP 12-3
Tulane 11-4
East Carolina 11-5
Charlotte 8-6
Old Dominion 8-7
UAB 7-7
FIU 6-9
North Texas 6-9
Florida Atlantic 5-10
Rice 5-10
Tulsa 5-10
UTSA 4-11
Louisiana Tech 4-11
Marshall 2-13
#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, http://www.fiu.edu/
