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MIAMI (Feb. 12, 2015) –The women's basketball team overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half, but costly turnovers sealed FIU's fate as Southern Miss scored 13 of the final 18 points to claim a 78-65 victory on Thursday evening from Lime Court at FIU Arena. With the loss, the Panthers dip to 3-19 overall and 0-11 in Conference USA play, while the win lifts the Lady Eagles to 16-7 and 9-3 against league opponents.
 
Junior Taylor Shade finished as the game's leading scorer with 22 points, while senior Marita Davydova added 17 and junior Destini Feagin chipped in with 10. Davydova once again hauled in a game-best 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and the 19th of her career. The 6-foot-3 center also dished out four assists, swiped two steals and had one block on the night. Feagin had four assists and two steals for the game. USM was led by Voche' Martin, who collected 22 points off a 76.9 shooting percentage (10-of-13). She also had a game high four blocks, while producing three rebounds, two steals and one assist.
 
Southern Miss scored the first five points of the game before the Panthers stormed back with six unanswered of their own. With FIU leading 6-5 and 18:29 left in the first, the Lady Eagles scored nine-straight to take an eight-point advantage with 15:42 remaining. Over the next three minutes, FIU fought back and tied it up at the 12:13 mark after Shade drained one of her four three-point field goals. The Panthers tied it up once more at 22-all before the Lady Eagle defense held them scoreless for over six minutes where they embarked on a 12-0 run. Shade broke the spell with two free-throws that sparked a 14-2 run as FIU retook the lead, 37-36, with 2:30 left. The final 120 seconds of play went back-and-forth, but the Panthers used two three-pointers and solid defense to head into the locker room with a 43-42 advantage.
 
The Panthers were held without a field goal for over the first four minutes of the second half until Feagin knocked one in with 15:56 left to play. Neither team led by more than five points for the majority of the second until the 4:46 mark where the Lady Eagles went on a 13-2 run to retake its double-digit lead. After getting back within six with 2:55 remaining, the Panthers would not make field goal for the rest of the half as they lost their 11th-straight contest, 78-65.
 
For the game, the Panthers shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57), while the Lady Eagles were 52.7 percent (29-of-55). Both teams captured 33 rebounds, but Southern Miss scored 13 second chance points, compared to seven by FIU. The Lady Eagles also scored 36 points in the paint and 35 points off of 24 Panther turnovers. In addition, Southern Miss received 26 points from its bench.
 
Next up, the Panthers remain at home to host Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Feb. 14, for the second Play 4Kay Game where they will wear their pink jerseys for the final time this season. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. ET 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/.