FIU women's basketball completes both its non-conference portion of the 2016-17 schedule and a five-game home stand when the Panthers host the FIU Holiday Classic Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The four-game, two-day event will feature the Panthers, along with Drexel, George Mason and Massachusetts on Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
FIU takes on UMass Tuesday at noon to open the event, with Drexel and George Mason to take the court at 2 p.m. Wednesday's double-dip features Drexel and UMass at noon before Mason and FIU finish the event at 2 p.m. An all-tournament team and MVP will be announced following the final game on Wednesday.
 
The Panthers enter the week 1-8 on the season, coming off a home loss despite their highest scoring output of the season, a 70-62 loss to Texas Southern last Wednesday afternoon. In that game, the Panthers set season highs for points, made field goals, field goal percentage, assists and steals, but FIU put the Tigers on the free throw line 12 times in the final period, more than the Panthers shot in the game, in the eight-point loss. The Panthers had a season-best performance from sophomore point guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama), who scored 18 points and dished out eight assists in the loss. FIU has produced a pair of double-digit scorers, with Hudson leading the way, averaging 11.4 points-per-contest. She leads the team in minutes played, and is second in Conference USA in minutes played, at 36.8 per contest. Freshman Alexis Gordon (Palm Bay, Florida / Covenant Christian) averages 11.1 points-per-game. She is second in Conference USA in three-point percentage (.419) and three-pointers made per contest (2.9) as the non-conference schedule winds down.
 
UMass (6-6) put together a 22-4 scoring run in the third quarter of its last game, a three-point home win over Holy Cross. The Minutewomen were down by as many as 23 points in the win, their second in the last six games. UMass was led in scoring by team-leader Hailey Leidel, who poured in 21 in the win. She averages 16.5 points-per-game for UMass and also averages over 37 minutes-per-game.
 
George Mason enters the Classic at 7-5, winners of four of its last five contest, including a four-point home win (68-64) over Navy last Tuesday in double overtime. The Patriots got the first career double-double from redshirt sophomore Casey Davis, who produced 16 points and 16 rebounds in the win. Kara Wright leads the squad with an average of 15 points-, 6.3 rebounds-, 3.0 assists- and 2.1 steals-per-contest.
 
FIU defeated Mason in the only all-time meeting, 73-59, in Miami on December 29, 2006. FIU and UMass have not met in women's basketball in their histories.
 
George Mason and UMass have both played one another already to begin Atlantic 10 Conference play, a 66-55 Mason win in Amherst, Massachusetts back on December 4.
 
The Panthers will begin C-USA play on the road this weekend, at Marshall Friday night and WKU on Sunday afternoon.
 
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/.