MIAMI (January 7, 2017) -- FIU shot over 60 percent from the field in the second half and claimed its first Conference USA women's basketball win of the season, 74-65, over visiting Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon on Lime Court at FIU Arena. The win was first home league win since last February 4 and the 30^th in the series against the Owls (30-10). The 74 points, 24-point fourth quarter, .467 shooting percentage and 15 steals were all season-high totals for FIU.
 
"This was a total team win today," said FIU Head Coach Tiara Malcom. "We followed the game plan and I saw them commit themselves to playing defense and that's why we came out on top. We have not been great coming out of the half and I think we committed ourselves to playing well then and that was important."
 
The two teams exploded offensively in the opening period. Freshman Alexis Gordon (Palm Bay, Florida / Covenant Christian) nailed all three attempts from three-point range and finished the period with 11 points. Despite a six-point lead in the quarter, FAU closed the first on a 12-2 run to lead 23-19 after 10 minutes of play. The 19 points matched the highest-scoring period for FIU in its last 17 played quarters.
 
"I was very comfortable today," said Gordon of her hot start. "The past few games, my shots have not been falling. But, today, things were flowing and I kept shooting."
 
The second quarter saw the Panthers repay the favor to the Owls, holding FAU without a basket for nearly 3:30 of clock time to pull it close. The Owls got a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to lead 36-31 at the break. Gordon had 13 points at the half.


 
Following the locker room meeting, FIU powered out to a 17-7 start, again holding FAU without a field goal for 2:35. The third quarter was when the Panthers evened the shooting in the game. FIU hit seven of its first 11 field goals in the frame and finished the quarter shooting .615 with eight made baskets.
 
The fourth started in FIU's favor, with the Panthers hitting two of their first three and seven of their first 12 in the frame.  All three of the Panthers' three-point attempts were good in the fourth, with Gordon hitting a pair and Tianah Alvarado (St. Petersburg, Florida / Golf Coast State) making the other.
 
Sophomore point guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) exploded for 16 of her career-high 21 points in the second half. She finished one assist shy of a double-double, with nine. She was also credited with eight steals in the game. Gordon finished with 19 and senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) had 18 points.
 
"I am trying to be aggressive, but under control, so I can make the shots," said Hudson. "Janka works extremely hard. When I have a chance to feed it to her, I try to."
 
After failing to record a three-point basket for the first time all season in the previous game, FIU was 6-for-12 from long range in this contest.
 
FIU will play its next two games at home, with a Thursday night contest against UTEP at 7 p.m. That game will be streamed at beIN Sports, and a tape-delay airing will take place after men's hoops programming that evening.  Next Saturday, FIU hosts UTSA to end the home stand at 2 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/.