MIAMI (Feb. 6, 2016) -- After a scorching-hot shooting performance in the first period, the FIU Panthers succumbed to immense half-court defensive pressure from Middle Tennessee in a 85-62 home loss on Lime Court at FIU Arena Saturday afternoon in Conference USA women's basketball action. The loss drops the Panthers to 3-19 overall, 1-10 in league action. The Blue Raiders have now won six in a row and improve to 15-7, 9-2 in C-USA.
 
The Blue Raiders and Panthers came out of the gates hot, combining to hit 19 field goals in the opening period. MT shot an amazing .588 in the first, but the Panthers put together a .643 period on 9-for-14 shooting. FIU freshman Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) had a career quarter, shooting 5-for-6, while draining both of her three-point attempts to put together 14 first-period point, more than any other two combined players in the game to that point.
 
The Blue Raiders reversed the fortunes of the game in the second quarter, limiting the Panthers to just eight points on .167 shooting (2-for-12), while hitting six baskets to lead by 10 at the half, 41-31. Middle reserve Rebecca Reuter scored eight points in the frame.

"All credit to Middle," said FIU Head Coach Marlin Chinn after the game."They grind on you and do a nice job of playing you for 40 minutes. We got off to a hot start, but then we got rattled and got into some foul trouble and that led to us getting behind."
 
MT's stifling defense continued in the third, as the Blue Raiders were able to open up a 16-2 run over nearly five minutes to open the period. The lead got to as many as 22, but the Panthers were able to cut it to 12 by the end of the period. Junior Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Golf Coast State) hit all three field goals, and both three-point attempts, to score 10 points in the frame in aid of the comeback.
 
The Panthers used up a lot of energy to cut the lead down, and MT took advantage to start the fourth period. The Blue Raiders passed the ball and ran the Panthers around on defense, forcing four quick FIU turnovers and knocking down quick threes to open the lead back out to 21 in just four minutes. FIU was held to single-digit scoring in the second and fourth quarters as the wave of Blue Raiders (10 players in all versus eight for FIU) kept coming and playing solid team defense.
 
Alvarado and Hudson led the team with 16 points each. Senior Taylor Shade (Boynton Beach, Florida / Community HS) had 14 points, her 51^st-career game with 10-or-more points. Hudson led the Panthers with five rebounds.
 
FIU will make its longest road trip of the season next week, playing at UTEP Thursday night at 9:05 Eastern and finishing with a Saturday 2 p.m. contest at UTSA.
 
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/.