HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (December 30, 2016) -- Shooting woes plagued FIU in its Conference USA women's basketball opener Friday night in Huntington, West Virginia, dropping a 70-52 game to Marshall at the Cam Henderson Center.  FIU falls to 2-10 on the season and 0-1 in league games. Marshall remains unbeaten in seven home games and improves to 9-3 and 1-0 in C-USA.
 
FIU played toe-to-toe with the Herd in the opening period, to an 8-7 Panthers lead, but Marshall put together a 17-4 run to finish out the period and never looked back. Just five minutes into the game, redshirt sophomore Kiandre'a Pound (Gifford, Florida / Sebastian River HS) had six points and six rebounds, including two of the offensive variety.
 
FIU was able to hold down Herd scoring in the second, allowing only 16 points, but could only get another dozen points to trail by 16, 40-24, at the half. FIU hit all six free throws in the first half and finished on a mini 4-0 run by holding Marshall scoreless in the last 2:34 of the second. FIU also held a 22-20 rebounding edge at the half.
 
The Panthers entered play sixth in the league in three-point shooting percentage (.329), but were held without a made three on six attempts in the first half.
 
The Panthers got on the scoreboard quickly after halftime, with two quick buckets on set plays, but were held without a field goal in the final 4:16 of the third as the Herd lead was 22 after three, 55-33. Marshall produced 11 rebounds to FIU's six in the period.
 
FIU did shoot better in the fourth, knocking down 4-for-10 from the floor in the final period, but suffered another scoring drought of more than three minutes as the Herd put away the contest.
 
Point guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) led the team with 17 points and also corralled seven rebounds in 34 minutes. Pound finished with the team-high total of eight rebounds. Senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) added 10 points.
 
For the game, FIU kept its turnovers low (11), but eventually lost the rebounding battle 46-37. FIU shot .297 for the game.
 
Marshall blocked 11 shots in the contest and shot .438 in the win.
 
FIU will now head to WKU to complete the weekend road trip. Tip time is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
 
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/.