MIAMI (November 25, 2016) -- FIU played hot to a 16-point lead and played cold, but came back from a late eight-point deficit to eventually lose in overtime, 64-61, to undefeated Weber State Friday afternoon to start the FIU Thanksgiving Tournament. The loss dropped FIU to 0-4 on the season, while the Wildcats are 5-0. It was the first overtime game for FIU since a one-point home win (76-75) over East Carolina on January 11, 2014.
 
In overtime, WSU scored the first four points of the period and forced FIU to play catchup. The Panthers eventually did, tying the score on a pair of Soraya Page (Queensland, Australia) free throws with 80 seconds remaining, but a layup and a free throw from junior Jocelyn Adams were the finals points scored in the game.
 
FIU got scoring quickly and pushed out to a 9-6 lead in the first four minutes. The scoring for the opening run came from either senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) or freshman Alexis Gordon (Palm Bay, Florida / Covenant Christian), who had four and five points, respectively. The Panthers got the lead to six on a fast break, when a full court pass from sophomore Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) found a leaping freshman Kayla Rogers (Jacksonville, Florida / Jean Ribault HS) for an acrobatic catch, finish and foul and a three-point play for an 18-12 lead midway through the quarter. The Panthers held the Wildcats scoreless for a stretch of nearly three minutes of game time to build that lead.
 
"I thought we had a lot of energy coming out and played in attack mode," said FIU Head Coach Tiara Malcom. "This loss is disappointing. We got complacent and allowed their pressure to bother us in the second half. We want it for them so badly, but we can't turn the table for them from the sideline. The light bulb came back on late, but we have to finish plays and we have to know where people are when we defend and we have to cut down the turnovers."
 
The second quarter looked a great deal like the first and Tuesday, when FIU held Georgetown to five points in that period. The Panthers held WSU this time without a field goal for the final 8:15 of the half to lead by 14 at the break, 36-22. FIU shot 50 percent (13-for-26) in the first half. That included a 4-for-5 half from three-point range. Gordon nailed all three attempts from long distance in the first two periods.
 
Things went south for FIU in the third quarter. Following a Hegedus layup to push the lead to its largest of the day, at 16, WSU put together an 18-2 run, to tie the game at 40-40 with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter. At one point in the quarter, WSU scored 17 unanswered en route to a four-point lead, 44-40 with two minutes to go in the period. WSU made it a 27-7 third quarter overall, shooting 53.3 percent in the stanza, while limiting FIU to 27.3 percent (3-for-11) from the field in that time. WSU led by six, 49-43, at the start of the fourth.
 
A bucket in the first minute of the fourth gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 51-43, but the Panthers scored the next five points in the contest to pull the score to within three. After WSU scored the next four points on two free throws and a layup, FIU did not allow the Wildcats to score in the last 3:16 of regulation and got the score tied on a Rogers jumper in the lane to force the extra period. Both teams missed jumpers in the final 40 seconds.
 
The Panthers outshot the Wildcats by shooting nearly 38 percent in the game, limiting WSU to a 31.8 percent clip. The Wildcats' 17 offensive rebounds created 13 second-chance points.
 
Hudson had the game-high total of 16 points, while Adams recorded a double-double for WSU, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. FIU only missed four free throws (13-for-17), but the Wildcats hit more free throws (18) than FIU shot (17) in the contest.
 
Both teams will play again on Sunday in Miami to close out the Thanksgiving Tournament. Weber State will play at noon against Stetson, with the Panthers playing at 2 p.m. versus Robert Morris.
 
For women's basketball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
 
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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/.