CHARLOTTE (Jan. 28, 2016) -- FIU women's basketball hit a season-high 13 three-point field goals, but ran into a hot-shooting Charlotte team that hit 12 of their own in a 87-74 road loss Thursday night at Halton Arena.
 
The 74 points were the most scored by FIU in its last seven games, but the Panthers' record fell to 2-17, 0-8 in Conference USA games. The 49ers, who shot .492 in the game, improved to 11-8 overall, 4-4 in league.
 
The Panthers tied their season high with seven three-point baskets in the first half, including five in the opening quarter. FIU shot .467 (7-for-15) in the first quarter from the field, but the 49ers hit at a .533 mark in the opening quarter and was able to match the long-range prowess of the Panthers in the game.
 
Taylor Shade (Boynton Beach, Florida / Community HS) led FIU with nine points at the halftime break. 
 
Freshman Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) had seven points and three assists at the break.
 
"I thought we put a great first half together," said FIU Head Coach Marlin Chinn after the game.  "We shot the ball well and we're getting better at rebounding the basketball, but the wheels came off the wagon in the second or third minute of the third quarter and we had to get in 'fight-back mode' after that. We just can't get that key rebound or key stop when we need it, but we have to continue on and get ready for ODU."
 
The 49ers pulled away in the third quarter when the Panthers went on a 1-for-8 shooting spell. Charlotte started 8-for-13 in that period en route to a 27-point quarter and an 11-point lead at the end of the period.
 
The lead stretched to 22 in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers fought back to within 10 points. However, Charlotte was able to close out the game from the free throw line. The Niners made more free throws (13) than FIU attempted (11) in the game.
 
Despite fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter, junior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) collected her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The 11 rebounds were a career-high total for her.
 
The Panthers tied the season by playing nine players in the game, the most in a Conference USA game this season.
 
"Playing a few more players will help us rest our starters and as we get more bodies back, I think it will help us during these later games as we continue to improve," added Chinn.
 
Five Panthers finished in double figures for the game, led by Hudson's 16. She also finished with the game-high total of six assists. Junior Nikolina Todorovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) scored a career-high 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range.
 
The Panthers head up to Norfolk, Virginia, to take on Old Dominion, with a 4 p.m. tip time on Saturday.
 
For women's basketball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
 
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/.