After winning on Tuesday, the FIU women's basketball team could not connect in the shooting department in the next game, falling to George Mason, 67-51, Wednesday afternoon on Lime Court at FIU Arena. The game concluded the 2016 FIU Holiday Classic, with the Patriots and Panthers both finishing 1-1 for the week. Mason is now 8-6 on the season, while the Panthers are 2-9 to conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule.

"We didn't come out with the same type of fire today. We were more consistent yesterday and we fell short in that area today," said FIU Head Coach Tiara Malcom. "We tried to substitute a little more to counter bring tired, but as players, you have to go out and get it done."
 
The game started a back-and-forth entertaining contest, with the lead changing hands four times in the first eight minutes, but the Patriots pulled away in the second quarter after the Panthers started with a .500 shooting percentage (7-for-14) in the first. FIU only managed to drop three field goals in the last 10 minutes of the half as Mason finished the half on an 8-0 run and a 10-point halftime lead, 34-24.
 
FIU hit the first bucket of the second half, but the Patriots went on another 7-0 run and got the lead out to as many as 26 in the third after a 26-10 quarter. FIU's full-court press got some turnovers and easy baskets to the game's final margin after FIU outscored Mason 17-7 in the fourth period.
 
FIU shot .358 in the game, but hit just one of 12 three-point attempts. Mason produced a .407 shooting performance on the night.
 
Freshman Kayla Rogers (Jacksonville, Florida / Jean Ribault HS) led the Panthers with 16 points, tying the team-high totals of five rebounds and three assists each.  Senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) added 10 points.

Hegedus and point guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
The Panthers begin Conference USA play on Friday night, with a 6 p.m. tipoff at Marshall.
 
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/.