MIAMI (Feb. 27, 2016) -- FIU posted a 9-0 run in just over 90 seconds in the fourth quarter, but the time ran out on a late comeback as the visiting Florida Atlantic Owls defeated the Panthers on women's basketball Senior Night 63-52. FIU falls to 4-23 on the season, 2-14 in Conference USA. FAU improves to 13-14 overall, 5-11 in league games.
 
The game was close for three quarters, with 10 lead changes and three ties in the first half, but FAU extended the lead out to 17 in the late stages, until FIU managed an 8-0 run in a period of 95 seconds to get the margin down to nine with three minutes left.
 
FIU, the league's best free-throw shooting team, got to the free throw line in bunches in the game, hitting 17 of 20 attempts for an .850 mark. Unfortunately for the Panthers, FAU hit all nine of its attempts, and the second-best three-point shooting squad nailed 10 triples in 33 attempts in the win. The Owls also snared nine more rebounds total (46-37) and took down 14 offensive rebounds to post 13 second-chance points.
 
"I told the ladies that I hate to beat a dead horse in the locker room, but it's our rebounding that is keeping us from competing in these types of games," said FIU Head Coach Marlin Chinn. "We have done a better job in the second half of conference making reads and taking away first options of our opponents, but we don't get the rebound and have to work hard on the defensive end all over again."
 
Both teams played good first-half defense, limiting the other in shooting percentage. FIU shot .321 in the first half, while the Owls were held to .290 through two quarters.
 
The fourth quarter went in favor of FAU 22-19, with both teams getting seven more points than their previous best period.
 
Junior Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Gulf Coast State) led FIU with 18 points and three steals. Freshman guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) added 16 points and six rebounds. The Panthers got a career-high eight rebounds from senior guard Taylor Shade (Boynton Beach, Florida / Community HS), playing in her final game on campus.
 
Shade, and seniors Katrina Epnere (Riga, Latvia) and Brianna Wright (Titusville, Florida / Titusville) were honored in a pregame ceremony for the last home game of their careers.
 
FIU will finish the regular season on the road next weekend, starting with the Thursday night game at UAB, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.
 
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/.