BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (January 21, 2017) -- The FIU women's basketball team had its second-highest first-half scoring output of the season, but UAB hit the first nine shots of the third quarter and coasted to a 82-68 Conference USA victory at the Gene Bartow Arena in Birmingham Saturday. The Panthers shot a season-best .490 from the field, but allowed the Blazers to shoot at a .569 clip in the offensive showcase.
 
Sophomore Kristian Hudson, playing in front of friends and family in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, posted 19 points. The game-high total of 20 points came from FIU senior Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Gulf Coast State), the second time in the last four games she has reached the 20-point plateau. Those two totals represented more than half of the team's total.
 
There were two ties and four lead changes in the first, with Hudson leading all scorers with seven at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers were uncharacteristically off from the free-throw line, hitting only two of their six attempts in the period. FIU led UAB .417 to .385 in the opening period, despite a 17-13 deficit after one. Alvarado collected an offensive rebound and hit a fall-away bucket as the horn sounded at the end of period to squeeze the lead to four.
 
The second quarter was an offensive showcase, with both teams scoring over 20 points and shooting better than 60 percent from the field. Hudson and Alvarado were the top scorers in the game at the half, with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
UAB scored the first six points of the second half, and 20 of the first 25 to push the lead to 22 points just six minutes into the third quarter. The Blazers hit their first nine shots of the period, while the Panthers started 1-for-6. Down 22, the Panthers strung together an 8-0 lead and the margin settled to 15 (67-52) by the end of the third.
 
The fourth quarter started 9-2 for the Blazers and the lead stayed in the high teens for the remainder of the contest, despite an 8-0 run for the Panthers near the midway point of the period.
 
FIU had more points off turnovers (21-18) than UAB, but the 12-for-25 afternoon from three-point range was the difference, as FIU was just 5-for-14 from long distance.
 
The Panthers will finish the three-game road swing next Thursday night at Florida Atlantic. That tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
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/.