Sunday, the FIU Panthers women's basketball team begins its Conference USA schedule with a road contest at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla., tipping off at 2 p.m. The Owls (8-3) won their Holiday Tournament by taking out Bethune-Cookman and Miami (Ohio) earlier this week. FIU (2-9) lost both games of the Surfing Santa Classic, falling in the late stages to Wake Forest on Tuesday, for the Panthers' final game of 2015.
 
Heading into league play, the Panthers lead the league in free throw percentage, at .753 through the first 11 contests. The Panthers are in the middle of the league with a .400 field goal percentage and sit fifth in three-point shooting, with a .336 mark.
 
FAU leads the league in three-point field goals made per game (9.5) and are fourth in Conference USA with a .342 three-point shooting mark.
 
This season, the Panthers have three players in double figures in scoring, with junior Janka Hegedus (Budepest, Hungary) and senior Taylor Shade (Boynton Beach, Florida / Boynton Beach Community HS) leading the way with 13.9 points each. They are 12^th and 13^th respectively, in the conference in scoring average. Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Lakewood HS) has produced 11.8 points per contest this season. All three average between four and five rebounds per game as well. Just behind rebounding leader Destini Feagin (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), who grabs 6.4 per game. Alvarado is second in the conference with 2.9 steals per contest heading into conference play.
 
Individually, FAU also has three double-digit scorers so far, led by redshirt senior Ali Gorrell's 13.7 per game. Junior Kat Wright (11.2) and senior Morgan Robinson (10.0) are also atop the team's scoring column. Those are FAU's only student-athletes to start every game this season for the Owls.
 
The Panthers will host a pair of league games next weekend, as Western Kentucky visits Lime Court at FIU Arena on Thursday, January 7 at 7 p.m. before Marshall pays a visit to Miami on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWBB) 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 at the FIU Football Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.