ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 17, 2015) – The FIU women's basketball team (1-1) suffered its first loss of the season, falling to UCF (1-1), 89-72, on Tuesday night from the CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla.
Despite a strong fourth quarter by the Panthers, a 22-5 third quarter deficit was too much for FIU to overcome.
Three Panthers scored in double-figures, including senior
Taylor Shade, who scored a season-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Junior
Janka Hegedus posted 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Senior
Destini Feagin rounded out the leading scorers with 14 points – 11 of which were scored in the fourth quarter. Both Shade and Hegedus led the squad with six boards, while freshman
Kristian Hudson tallied a team-high six assists.
FIU finished the night shooting 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the floor and was 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) from 3-point range. UCF converted 35-of-66 (53.0 percent) shooting on the night and held a 38-30 edge in the glass.
The Knights took advantage of FIU's 23 total turnovers, converting them into 37 points for UCF.
The Panthers went into halftime, trailing 47-38. UCF went on an 8-0 run in the final two minutes to give FIU its largest deficit of the half. The Panthers shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the floor and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from 3-point range. The Knights shot 54.3 percent (19-of-35) in the first 20 minutes, including 55.6 percent from downtown (5-of-9). Hegedus led all Panthers with 10 points in the first half, while Shade had a team-high four boards heading into the locker room.
A 22-5 third quarter put the Panthers in a hole that they tried to claw their way out of in the fourth. FIU fell behind 69-43 after 30 minutes of play. UCF extended its lead to 30 three minutes into the final period. However, FIU didn't show any quit, out-scoring the team from Orlando 29-20 in the final 10 minutes of action. The late push was not enough as FIU fell, 89-72.
The Panthers will next host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Monday, Nov. 23. Tipoff from Lime Court at FIU Arena is set for 7 p.m.
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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 Bank Field 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/.
