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MIAMI (Feb. 14, 2015) – – The FIU women's basketball team dropped a 79-56 decision to Louisiana Tech on Saturday night from Lime Court at FIU Arena. With the loss, the Panthers dip to 3-20 overall and 0-12 in Conference USA, while the win lifts the Lady Techsters to 13-11 on the season and 8-5 against league opponents.
 
Junior Taylor Shade led FIU in scoring with 12 points. She was followed by senior Marita Davydova and sophomore Nikolina Todorovic with 11 points each. Todorovic's 11 points were a career-high and came off a 4-of-6 shooting performance, 3-of-4 of which came from behind the arc. Senior Zsofia Labady led the Panthers on the glass with six boards, two shy of a season-best. Louisiana Tech was led by a trio of seniors and one freshman as Kelia Shelton had 20 points, Tiara Davenport put in a career-high 14, Whitney Fraizer added 13 and Chrisstasia Walter scored 11. 
 
Shade got things going with a quick three to start a 9-5 run, but LA Tech responded scoring six straight to take its first lead of the night at the 11:25 mark. The game swung back and forth over the next minute-and-a-half until another 6-0 Lady Techster run gave them a 17-11 lead with 9:23 left in the first. After exchanging baskets over the next couple of minutes, FIU slowly pulled back within two at the 5:56 point. However a late 8-0 Tech run gave them a 34-23 lead going into halftime.
 
After a 3:15 scoring drought to close the first half, the Panthers opened the second with similar offensive struggles, hitting just one shot in eight attempts as Louisiana Tech took advantage and embarked on an 11-3 run in a span of three minutes and 20 seconds. The Lady Techsters continued their run going ahead by as many as 23 with 16:06 left to play. The Panthers pulled back with 18 points twice, but could not come any closer as they fell in their 12 straight game to Louisiana Tech, 79-56.
 
For the game, the Panthers shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61), while the Lady Techsters were 48.5 percent (32-of-66) from the floor. Tech won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding FIU 43-37. This was only the fourth time this season the Panthers have been outrebounded, as the Panthers have lost all four contests when losing the rebounding matchup. However, the turnover battle was a close one as Louisiana Tech had 15, compared to 16 from FIU; but the Lady Techsters converted 24 points off Panther turnovers while FIU only had eight.
 
FIU will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 19, when it heads to Texas to face the Rice Owls. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET from Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
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/.