GAME NOTES

MIAMI (Jan. 7, 2015) – The women's basketball team (3-9, 0-1 C-USA) will take on the last year's Conference USA Champion Middle Tennessee (7-4, 1-0 C-USA) for its second conference game of the 2015 season on Thursday. The game is slated to tip off at 6 p.m. ET from Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
BROADCAST
Thursday's game will be livestreamed via Panther Vision on FIUSports.com. The game can also be heard on FIUSports.com with Pete Pelegrin announcing the action. There will also be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter @FIUWBasketball.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's game will be the 31st meeting between FIU and Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders hold a 21-9 advantage in the series and are on a four-game winning streak against the Panthers. FIU's last win came on Dec. 20, 2012 as it edged out MTSU, 58-51, in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak in the series.
 
SCOUTING FIU
FIU heads into Thursday's game with a 3-9 overall mark after falling in its C-USA opener to Florida Atlantic, 79-63. The Panthers led for a good portion of the game, but a big run for the Owls awarded the FAU victory. FIU won the rebounding contest, 37-33, however Florida Atlantic forced 22 Panther turnovers, which resulted in 25 points for the Owls. Redshirt sophomore Kiandre'a Pound continues to lead FIU in scoring with an average of 15.9 points-per-game, while senior Marita Davydova collects a team-best 9.7 rebounds-per-contest.
 
SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Middle Tennessee is currently riding a three-game winning streak, defeating UCF (79-57), Tennessee Tech (98-76) and UAB (76-68). The Blue Raiders are 3-3 thus far on the road and are averaging 70.6 points-per-game, which is 7.7 points better than their opponents. Sophomore Olivia Jones and redshirt senior Cheyenne Parker lead MTSU offensively with averages of 19.7 and 17.8 points-per-game, respectively. Jones's 19.7 scoring average leads C-USA and ranks 28th in the country. The sophomore from Murfreesboro, Tenn., also leads the Blue Raiders on the boards with a team-best 9.5 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 707-391 over 37 seasons, and a record of 667-369 in 35 seasons at FIU.
 
Since his arrival to Middle Tennessee in 2005, Rick Insell has led the Blue Raiders to eight NCAA Tournament appearances, coached five All-Americans and grew three WNBA Draft picks during his tenure. He has collected seven regular-season championships (six in the Sun Belt and one in Conference USA) and six tournament titles (five in the SBC and one in C-USA) to his mantle. The six tournament crowns have led to NCAA Tournament appearances, and with two at-large NCAA selections (2010-11, 2011-12) and a Postseason WNIT berth in 2008, have put Insell-led teams in the postseason in each of his nine seasons. Middle Tennessee has won at least 20 contests in each of his nine years, including a school-record 30 during the 2006-07 campaign, which owned the nation's longest winning streak at 27 games and not losing for over 100 days. The 20-game winning streak in 2011-12 was the second longest in program history, as the top-four runs have come under his watch and each been at least 16 games. In 2013-14 his team strung together a 17-game win streak and finished the year with 29 victories, ranking second-most in program history.
 
LAST MEETING
Jerica Coley concluded her final game as a Panther with 19 points and 12 rebounds as FIU's Cinderella run in the Conference USA Championships was halted Friday, Mar. 14, 2014 from the Don Haskins Center as the Panthers fell to rival Middle Tennessee, 64-57. With the loss, the Panthers dipped to 15-18 overall, while the win lifted MTSU to 28-4. Coley led all scorers with 19 points, while adding a team-best 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double this year. She was jointed in double-figures by Tynia McKinzie and Taylor Shade with 15 and 10 points, respectively. The Blue Raiders were led by none other than 2014 C-USA Player of the Year Ebony Rowe and C-USA Freshman of the Year Olivia Jones, who combined for 37 points and 25 rebounds.
 
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/.