GAME NOTES
MIAMI (Mar. 6, 2015) – The women's basketball team (3-25, 0-17 C-USA) will close out the regular season with a trip to Birmingham, Ala., where it will face the Blazers of UAB (16-12, 10- C-USA) on Saturday afternoon. The game is slated for a 3 p.m. ET tip from Bartow Arena.
BROADCAST Saturday's game can be seen and heard on UABSports.com. Fans can follow live scoring via FIUSports.com or UABSports.com. There will also be live updates throughout the game available on Twitter @FIUWBasketball.
SERIES HISTORY Saturday's game will be the seventh meeting between FIU and UAB and will be the second of two games in the series this season. The Blazers hold a 4-2 advantage, which includes the 68-45 win earlier in the year. FIU's last win in the series came last year in Birmingham where the Panthers came away with a 63-52 win. It was FIU's only win in Birmingham.
SCOUTING FIUFIU is coming off its worst offensive outing of the year with a 79-30 loss to Middle Tennessee. The Panthers shot a season-low 29.4 percent (11-of-47) and had 29 turnovers which were converted into 36 Blue Raider points. Redshirt freshman
Kiandre'a Pound led FIU in scoring with 12 points. She was followed by senior
Marita Davydova who added 10. Freshman
Aajah Hawkins pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers on the boards, while Davydova and Pound produced seven each. Pound also had a career-best five blocks on the day. This was the second time this season a player has registered five or more blocks in a game as Davydova had five against Bowling Green earlier in the year. Pound continues to lead the team in scoring (14.9 ppg), while Davydova leads the way on the boards (9.8 rpg).
SCOUTING UABUAB edged visiting Florida Atlantic, 59-56, to earn the Blazers' sixth-straight win in Bartow Arena. The teams were evenly matched as neither side built more than a seven-point lead and both squads finished 40.4 percent shooting from the field. Senior forward Janae Smith led the team with 18 points, just missing a double-double with nine boards, while junior guard Chelsee Black added 15 points for UAB. The Blazers are led offensively by Smith and Black, who combine for 30 points-per-game. Smith also leads the squad in rebounds (8.0 rpg).
LAST TIME VS. UABThe women's basketball team fell to UAB, 68-45, earlier this year on Jan. 11 in Miami. FIU junior guard
Destini Feagin led all Panther scorers with 12 points. Senior forward
Marita Davydova also scored double-digits, contributing 11. Davydova also led the effort on the boards for FIU with 11 to record her fifth double-double of the season. For the game, UAB shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54), while FIU was 31.7 percent (20-of-63) from the floor. The Blazers narrowly outrebounded the Panthers, 38-35, but UAB had 18 points from the bench while FIU only had eight.
DAVYDOVA EARNS C-USA ALL-ACADEMICMarita Davydova was selected to the Conference USA All-Academic team, the league office announced Thursday. This is the second-consecutive year an FIU women's basketball player has garnered all-academic from the conference. Davydova boasts a 3.70 GPA as an economics major, earning her a membership in FIU Athletics' 3.0 Club. The four-time Dean's List member plans to graduate in the spring and has ambitions to play professionally overseas while pursuing master's degree in economics in Russia. On the court, Davydova is one of the best post players in the conference grabbing 9.9 rebounds-per-game to rank 44th in the nation and third in the league. The Moscow, Russia, native has produced 24 double-digit rebounding outings and 10 double-doubles on the year. In addition, Davydova adds 11.6 points-per-game to nearly average a double-double. In order to be eligible for the C-USA All-Academic Team, nominees must hold a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade point average, be a starter or key reserve for their team and be of sophomore academic standing.
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/.