FIU Women's Basketball: Game 29, at Middle Tennessee
Saturday, March 5, 2016 | 3 p.m. (ET)
Charles M. Murphy Center | Murfreesboro, Tennessee | C-USA Digital Network
 
FIU Panthers
Record: 4-24, 2-15 Conference USA
Last Game: L, 71-42 at UAB on Thursday, March 3, 2016
 
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Record: 20-8, 14-3 Conference USA
Last Game: W, 71-65 vs. Florida Atlantic on March 3, 2016
 
The Matchup: FIU came out hot in the first meeting between the two teams, shooting .643 on 9-for-14 from the field, but the Middle defense was stifling on the way to an 85-62 decision in Miami on February 6. Kristian Hudson scored 14 points in the first quarter, but finished with 16 in the game. Tianah Alvarado also finished with 16 points and Taylor Shade had 14. FIU had 18 turnovers to Middle's 10 in the contest.
 
FIU Last Game: Juniors Tianah Alvarado and Nikolina Todorovic shared team-high scoring totals of 13 points each as FIU could not overcome a poor shooting night in a 71-42 road loss at UAB on Thursday.  The result guaranteed the Panthers the 14 seed in the upcoming Conference USA Championships. After a tight first quarter, the defensive effort was not enough as the Panthers finished at .304 for the night, allowing UAB to shoot .406 in the game. 
 
MTSU Last Game: Florida Atlantic shot .538 in the opening half, leading Middle Tennessee by 10 at halftime, but the Blue Raiders put together a 21-9 third quarter and came back for a six-point home win, 71-65 Thursday night. Five Middle players had 10-or-more points, led by Alex Johnson's 14. MT shot .400 in the second half, holding FAU to .321 in the final two periods. 
 
By virtue of their Thursday loss in Birmingham, the Panthers are set in the 14 seed in the upcoming Conference USA Championships, and will play on Tuesday, March 8, at 1:30 Central Time against either North Texas, UTSA or Florida Atlantic in round one in Birmingham's Bartow Arena. With 14 league wins, Middle Tennessee is guaranteed two byes into the quarterfinals of the C-USA Championships. They will not play until Thursday, March 10 in Birmingham.
 
Live stats and Conference USA Digital Network information are available at FIUSports.com.
  
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/.