BOCA RATON, Fla. (Jan. 3, 2016) -- FIU was one point off its season high and got in a tight game at Florida Atlantic to open Conference USA play, but the Panthers went on a five minute shooting slump in the late stages in an 87-82 women's basketball loss to the Owls Sunday afternoon. FAU won its fourth-straight game and improved to 9-3, 1-0 in the league. FIU fell to 2-10 overall and 0-1 to start conference play.
 
Season high point-totals for junior Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Lakewood HS) and senior Taylor Shade (Boynton Beach, Florida / Boynton Beach Community HS) came in the game, with Shade dropping 26 points and Alvarado adding 22 for the contest. Freshman guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) also added a season-high eight assists in the contest.
 
"Offensively, we executed very well today," said FIU head coach Marlin Chinn. "Our ladies were very motivated and excited to come up here and play and it showed. But, as has been our Achilles heel all season, we don't get a key rebound in a key moment and that essentially was the difference in the game today."
 
The Panthers jumped out of the gates hot. Following an Owl bucket, FIU fired off eight unanswered points in 40 seconds to force an FAU timeout in the second minute. The run was capped off by back-to-back three-pointers from junior Tianah Alvarado and senior Taylor Shade.
 
The Owls started 3-for-11 from the field, while the Panthers hit four of their first five three-point attempts.
 
The second quarter was played at as a frenetic pace as the first, with FAU putting together a 25-point quarter to take a 47-42 lead at the break. Alvarado had 16 and Shade had 15 at intermission. The Owls got up as much as nine in the quarter, but a 14-8 FIU run closed the gap and the half settled at five points.
 
The Panthers went nearly three minutes without a field goal midway through the third, but finished the quarter by hitting four of fiveput together a shooting run midway through the third and Shade capped off the quarter with a step-back three-pointer to end the period at a 63-all tie.
 
The fourth saw a shooting drought finally rear up on the Panthers, a period of hitting just two for nine field goals as the Owls were able to pull away. The Owls got up by as many as seven in the final period, with the Panthers able to cut it to four, but time ran out on the comeback.
 
The Panthers had margins in shooting (.493 to .475) and rebounding (37-32), but 21 personal fouls to just 12 for the Owls led to a 14-free throw discrepancy and the Owls were 21-for-26 from the line, with the Panthers only making eight of their 12 allotted attempts. The Owls also capitalized on key turnovers, outscoring FIU 23-10 in points off turnovers. FIU had 12 turnovers to FAU's eight.

Hudson added 14 points and junior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) scored 12 in the game.
 
The Panthers will host a pair of Conference USA games next weekend. Thursday, WKU plays at Lime Court at FIU Arena at 7 p.m. before a game with Marshall at home Saturday at 2 p.m.

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/.