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MIAMI (Jan. 4, 2015) - The women's basketball team fell in its Conference USA opener, 79-63, to the Florida Atlantic Owls on Sunday night from Lime Court at FIU Arena. With the loss, FIU moves to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in C-USA.
 
FIU had four players score in double-digit figures for the evening, with senior Marita Davydova recording a 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.
 
The first half of action was a back-and-forth affair featuring six ties and three lead changes. FAU hit a three to open the game, but Davydova responded with a quick layup under the basket. The two teams would exchange baskets over a nine minute span until FIU pulled ahead by six with 9:33 left in the opening half. The Owls slowly chipped away at their deficit tying the game for the sixth time with less than one minute to play; however, a Shade layup as time was running out gave the Panthers a two-point advantage heading into the locker room.
 
Florida Atlantic continued its offensive run to open the second, scoring the first four points of the half to regain the lead. FIU countered with a 6-0 run to tie the game for the eighth time of the night. With 13:41 to play, the Owls went on a 14-2 run taking a 62-50 lead. FAU extended it to as many as 15 at the 7:45 mark and held the double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
 
After opening the game shooting 46.9 percent (15-of-32), the Panthers fell flat in the second with 35.7 percent (10-of-28) in the second. In addition, the Owls received 25 bench points, compared to five from FIU.
 
Next up, FIU will host Middle Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. from Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
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/.