BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (January 20, 2017) -- FIU women's basketball completes its weekend Conference USA road trip at the site of this year's conference tournament, facing the UAB Blazers. Tipoff from the Gene Bartow Arena is set for 3 p.m. Eastern.

The two teams split their two meetings last year, each defending their home floor against the other. UAB has won six of the nine all-time meetings.
 
The Panthers and Blazers have identical 2-4 Conference USA records, winning those two in each teams' last four league games.
 
FIU enters at 4-13 overall, coming off a 95-43 loss at defending league champion Middle Tennessee on Thursday. The Panthers did not have a double-digit scorer in that game for the first time this season. Redshirt sophomore Kiandre'a Pound (Gifford, Florida / Sebastian River HS) tied her career high with three steals.
 
The Panthers are looking for their first road win in the sixth game away from Miami this season. FIU has a pair of double-digit performers, by average. Sophomore Kristian Hudson, in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, brings a team-best 12.5 points average for the game. Her 79 assists, 34 steals and 57 made free throws are also team-best totals entering the UAB game. Freshman Alexis Gordon (Palm Bay, Florida / Covenant Christian) is averaging 10.2 points-per-contest, and leads the Panthers with 43 made three-pointers. She is tied for fourth in the league with a .392 three-point shooting percentage, while her 2.4 made three-pointers-per-game are fourth-most per game in the league.
 
UAB is 9-8 overall, winners of a 66-55 game Thursday at home over Florida Atlantic, the lone winless team in conference games. Despite a two-point deficit at halftime, the Blazers outscored the Owls 20-11 in the third quarter on the way to the win. Freshman Rachel Childress scored a career-high 19 points as her season continues to build for UAB. Childress leads the Blazers with 11.5 points-per-game this season and is the leading three-point shooter for the Blazers, with 48 successful long-range shots.
 
The Panthers will finish the three-game road swing next Thursday in Boca Raton, at Florida Atlantic.
 
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).
 
#####
 
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/.