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RUSTON, La. (Mar. 5, 2014) – The FIU women's basketball team closed out the regular season with a 67-65 last second loss to Louisiana Tech on Wednesday night in the Thomas Assembly Center. The Panthers now stand at 13-17 overall and 6-10 against Conference USA opponents, while the Lady Techsters improve to 10-19 on the season and 5-11 in the league.

The Lady Techsters had 42 points in the paint and 16 second chance points. In addition, Louisiana Tech finished with 41 rebounds, 26 of which came on the defensive glass.

The first half featured back-and-forth play from the two squads, with neither team gaining much separation. FIU led by as many as six to start the game, but a 9-0 run from the Techsters would put them up three with less than nine minutes left in the half. With 10 lead changes and three instances of a tied score, FIU took a one-point lead in to the half behind 55.6 percent (15-of-27) shooting from the field and 66.7 percent (4-of-6) shooting from three-point land.

The second half mirrored the first with FIU jumping out to a 12-point lead at the 11:59 mark, but Louisiana Tech quickly answered with a 9-0 run, putting them within three. FIU was held to only one field goal under the five minute mark, and poor free-throw shooting helped the Techsters keep within striking distance. With less than a minute to go, junior Kamika Idom hit one-of-two free throws to tie the game at 65 apiece. Louisiana Tech held strong and with the clock winding down, hit a layup to seal the deal at 67-65.

Senior Jerica Coley would finish as the Panthers' top scorer with 29 points in addition to seven rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal. Idom contributed a career-high tying 19 points. For the Lady Techsters, junior Kelia Shelton led the team in scoring with 17 points that included the last second shot to seal the win. Also aiding in Louisiana Tech's win was junior Whitney Frazier recording 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Next up for the Panthers will be the C-USA Tournament, with the first round matchups kicking off on Tuesday, March 11. Until then, FIU will await the results of remaining matchups to determine seeding.

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/