GAME NOTES

MIAMI (Jan. 10, 2015) – The Panther women's basketball team (3-10, 0-2 C-USA) welcomes UAB (6-7, 0-2 C-USA) to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Sunday for a 12 p.m. ET tipoff. The game will air live on Fox Sports Net.
 
BROADCAST
Sunday's game will air on FSN with Jason Knapp (play-by-play) and Christy Winters-Scott (analyst) on the call. Fans can also follow live stats on FIUSports.com, and live updates throughout the game will be available on Twitter @FIUWBasketball.
 
PROMOTIONS
There are several promotions in place for Sunday's game against the Blazers. All students in attendance will receive a $5 concession voucher which includes nachos, popcorn, drinks and candy (while supplies last). In addition, the team will be signing autographs postgame.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's game will be the sixth meeting between FIU and UAB. The Blazers hold a 2-3 advantage in the series; however, the Panthers won the last outing as it defeated UAB, 63-52, in Birmingham on Jan. 25, 2014. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak in the series.
 
SCOUTING FIU
FIU went 0-2 during the first week of conference play with losses to Florida Atlantic, 79-63, and Middle Tennessee, 75-60, to move to 3-10 overall. In Sunday's game against the Owls, the Panthers had four players score in double-figures for the evening, with senior Marita Davydova recording at team-high 16 points. Junior Destini Feagin contributed 13 and redshirt freshman Kiandre'a Pound added 12, while junior Taylor Shade put in 11 to round out the double-digit scoring. Davydova led the Panthers on the boards with 10 to notch her fourth double-double of the season. Senior Tynia McKinzie had 17 points, one point shy of tying her career-high, in Thursday's loss against the Blue Raiders. Davydova once again led the Panthers on the boards with nine. Pound continues to pace the team in scoring for the season with an average of 15.5 points-per-game, and Davydova leads the Panthers in rebounds with 9.6 boards-per-contest.
 
SCOUTING UAB
UAB also began its 2015 Conference USA slate 0-2 after falling to Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic. The Blazers will be playing their second-straight road game and seventh of the year when taking the court in Miami. Five of UAB's seven losses have been on the road this year. The Blazers average 61.1 points-per-game, while giving up an average of 61.7 points. Senior Janae Smith and junior Chelsee Black lead UAB in scoring with averages of 17.5 and 13.2 points-per-game, respectively. Smith also hauls in a team-best 6.8 rebounds-per-contest.
 
THE COACHES
In 39 years of women's basketball at FIU, Head Coach Cindy Russo has been the driving force for 36 of them. Over that time, she has guided FIU to 22-consecutive winning seasons (1981-2003) and at least 20 victories on 18 occasions. Russo has led her teams to six NCAA Division I Tournament berths, seven Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournaments (WNIT) and two NCAA Division II Tournaments, in addition to winning eight regular season conference titles and seven tournament crowns. Russo enters the 2014-15 campaign as the ninth-winningest active coach in Division I women's basketball. The veteran head coach owns a career record of 707-392 over 37 seasons, and a record of 667-370 in 35 seasons at FIU.
 
Randy Norton is in his second season as head coach of the UAB women's basketball team. Norton, a 30-year coaching veteran, was named the sixth head coach in UAB history on April 22, 2013 after serving as the associate head coach at the University of Missouri. In his first season with the Blazers, Norton lead the team to a 16-15 finish overall and 7-9 in conference play. Under his tuteledge, Karisma Chapman had her best season of her already storied career at UAB. She led the team with 20.2 points per game and recorded 16 double-doubles on the season to earn a first team all-conference selection. Norton has coached at multiple levels throughout his career, including 11 seasons in NCAA Division I. With stops at Missouri and Illinois State, his teams have garnered two NCAA Tournament appearances, four WNIT berths, three Missouri Valley Conference Championships and two MVC tournament titles.
 
LAST MEETING
FIU defeated UAB, 63-52, the last time the two teams met, which took place on Jan. 25, 2014, in Birmingham. Jerica Coley recorded 38 points for the Panthers as it was the 17th time she scored 20-or-more points and the 10th time she netted 30-plus. The three -time All-American also contributed six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block, while Tynia McKinzie recorded her fourth double-double on the year with 10 points and a career-best 19 rebound. For the game, FIU out-rebounded the Blazers by a season-high 15. The Panthers also had 18 second chance points, compared to UAB's eight. FIU did not give a three-point shot the entire game.
 
POUND EARNS C-USA FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS SEASON
Redshirt freshman Kiandre'a Pound was named the Conference USA Women's Basketball Freshman of the Week, which was announced by the league office on Monday morning. The guard/forward from Vero Beach, Fla., averaged 14.0 points and 9.3 rebounds-per-game for the Panthers last week and was instrumental in FIU's win over Bowling Green in the Sun & Fun Classic on Dec. 30. Pound scored double-figures in all three contests including 20 against the Falcons, while adding her sixth double-double of the season. She shot 44.7 percent, hitting 17 of 38 shots and averaged 30.7 minutes-per-game. This is Pound's third C-USA Freshman of the Week award of her career (Dec. 1, Dec. 15).
 
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).
 
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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 FIU Arena and Ocean BankField at FIU Stadium.
 
 About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.