NORFOLK, Va. (Jan. 30, 2016) -- After a terrific start in the opening half, things fell apart for the FIU women's basketball team as the Panthers took an 84-49 road loss at Old Dominion Saturday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
 
FIU falls to 2-18 overall, 0-9 in league games. ODU improves to 9-12 on the season, 5-4 in Conference USA.
 
The Panthers played about as good as a first five minutes as they have in conference this season. FIU came out shooting 5-of-6 from the floor, while the Lady Monarchs were 2-of-7 as the Panthers took an 11-4 lead, which they stretched to nine after an ODU timeout. ODU was able to find the basket and closed the period on a 15-6 run to take a two-point lead at the quarter break. FIU posted a .667 period, hitting eight of the 12 shot attempts.
 
The Lady Monarchs started hot in the second quarter, shooting .571 through the first five minutes of the period to take a six-point lead. The Panthers forced ODU to shoot 2-of-10 to finish the period and good defense led to layups on the other end as FIU cut the lead to two at the half, 32-30. All five FIU starters had four-or-more points at the half.
 
ODU was 9-of-16 in the third and compiled a 28-4 run over a six-minute span. The Panthers hit a shooting slump, ending the period with a couple of buckets to finish at 4-of-12. FIU scored 10 points in the period and committed 10 fouls.
 
The Panthers scored nine in the fourth as the Lady Monarchs hit 9-of-15 shots in the period and .500 for the game. The Panthers shot .408 in the contest.
 
Senior Taylor Shade (Boynton Beach, Virginia / Community HS) led the Panthers with 13 points, the 49^th game of her career scoring in double figures. Senior Destini Feagin (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) also contributed 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
 
The Panthers will next host the UAB Blazers on Thursday, Feb. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
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/.