MIAMI (January 13, 2017) -- Following Thursday night's thrilling triple-overtime win, the FIU women's basketball squad completes its three-game home stand Saturday afternoon, with a 2 p.m. contest against UTSA on Lime Court at FIU Arena. Both teams enter with wins in their last two Conference USA games.
 
FIU, which is 4-11, 2-2 in C-USA games, needs just one more win in either column to match the totals of five wins and three conference victories from last season. The 88-87 win Thursday produced the most points in a game since scoring 88 in a home win over Wofford on Dec. 21, 2014. The three extra periods were a school record. The win gave the Panthers their first win streak since the end of the 2013-14 season, winning three Conference USA Tournament games in El Paso to advance to the league's tournament semifinals. The pair of consecutive home victories were the first since the program won two Conference USA games in February of 2014.
 
FIU defeated UTSA in their previous two meetings, and leads the all-time series 4-3, which includes a 1-1 split in Miami. UTSA won in Miami 63-52 last year before the Panthers knocked off the Roadrunners in San Antonio 59-54 and again in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament, 61-56, to end the Roadrunners' season in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
Sophomore Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) scored a career-high 35 points, including the game-winning shot from just inside midcourt. She hit a career-high 11 field goals and played all 55 minutes to set a new school record. Hudson was 11-for-20 on the night, and 12-for-13 from the free throw line, all career-high totals for makes and attempts, in the victory. She broke the school record by hitting her 19^th consecutive free throw in the first overtime period. She also tied her career-high with 10 assists for her second-career double-double. She added eight rebounds for the near triple-double.
 
Four Panthers scored in double figures, including a season-high 21 from senior Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Gulf Coast State), a 15-point effort from freshman Alexis Gordon (Palm Bay, Florida / Covenant Christian) in a career-high 52 minutes played, and 10 from senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary). The four players in double figures tied the season-high mark for scoring output. The Panthers remain the league's third-best free-throw shooting team (.720) and fifth in steals (8.2) per contest.
 
UTSA is off to a 7-8 start, including 3-1 in league games. The Roadrunners secured a 10-point win, 72-62 at Florida Atlantic, for their seventh victory of the season after winning just 10 games a season ago. UTSA is also already halfway to last season's six conference victories.
 
Crystal Chidomere dropped 25 points at FAU on 11-of-17 shooting, while Tesha Smith added 20 of her own for the Roadrunners. UTSA has the second-best steals average (10.6) in the league and is fourth in turnover margin (1.9) among Conference USA programs. Loryn Goodwin leads the team with an 18.8 points-per-game average, second-best in the league currently. She is also 11^th in the league with 3.9 assists per game.
 
Following the contest, the Panthers return to the road for the next three conference contests to close out the month of January.
 
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/.