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HOUSTON, Texas (Feb. 19, 2015) – The women's basketball team dropped an 80-59 decision to the Rice Owls from the Tudor Fieldhouse on Thursday evening. With the loss, the Panthers drop to 3-21 overall and 0-13 against Conference USA opponents, while the win lifts the Owls to 8-16.
FIU was led by redshirt freshman
Kiandre'a Pound, who finished with 21 points, 15 of which came in the second half. The Vero Beach, Fla., native also pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to notch her eighth double-double on the year. Pound was joined in double figures by juniors
Taylor Shade and
Destini Feagin with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Reem Moussa led the way offensively for Rice, scoring a game-high 23 points.
Rice shot 46.5 percent (33-of-71) from the floor, while FIU was only 36.7 percent (22-of-60) on the night. The Owls forced 22 Panther turnovers which resulted in 32 points for Rice. In addition, half of the Rice scoring efforts came from its bench which produced 40 points.
It was a back-and-forth affair to start the game as the first six minutes featured three ties and two lead changes. A big Owl three-pointer sent them on a 7-1 run over a four-minute span where the Panthers were held without a field goal until the 10:06 mark. Shade drained a three that broke the dry spell. The Owls turned up the defensive effort forcing all 12 first half turnovers in a matter of nine minutes as they embarked on a 28-6 run and headed into halftime with a 46-19 lead. The Panthers' 19 points were their lowest first half scoring effort of the year.
The Panthers got back within 15 after a Shade layup, but two consecutive Rice field goals seemed to suck the life out of any comeback FIU might have. However, with about five-and-a-half minutes to play, the Panther defense kept the Owls off the board for over three minutes as they pulled back within 16 with 2:37 remaining. Rice got back into it with a bang after converting on an old fashioned three-point play, and in the end defeated FIU, 80-59
FIU continues its road swing for its second-straight road matchup this week when it heads to Denton on Sunday to take on the North Texas Mean Green. The game will tip off at 5 p.m. ET from the Super Pit.
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/.
