DENTON, Texas (February 11, 2017) -- Despite a better shooting mark, the FIU women's basketball team committed too many early turnovers and though they cut a 14-point lead down to three, the Panthers eventually suffered a 69-49 Conference USA road loss to North Texas at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas, Saturday.
 
The loss causes the Panthers record to slip to 5-18 on the season, 3-9 in Conference USA. North Texas is now 9-14, and a level 6-6 in league games.
 
FIU outshot its opponent from the field for the sixth time this season, but this was the second loss in that situation. The Panthers produced a .425 mark from the field, limiting the Mean Green to .373 from the field. UNT had 27 more attempts than FIU thanks to 22 Panthers turnovers and 18 UNT offensive rebounds.
 
The teams played tight for four minutes, with each scoring six before the Mean Green were
able to score the game's next 14 points over four more minutes for a 20-6 lead. The Panthers turned the ball over nine times in the quarter, but did manage to shoot. 556 (5-for-9) in the opening period. Senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) nailed a three-pointer at the top of the key to beat the first-quarter buzzer and cut the UNT lead to 22-13.
 
From that triple, the Panthers were able to go on a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to pull back to within five. The Panthers held the Mean Green scoreless for a period of over four minutes in the frame, but UNT hit two quick field goals near the end of the period. FIU outscored the Mean Green 10-8 in the second and trailed 30-23 at the half. The Panthers only turned the ball over twice in the second quarter and had a better shooting mark (.435 to .314) than UNT at the half.
 
The Panthers cut the lead to as few as three points before the Mean Green produced a 14-0 run in the third. Late quarter points closed that gap, but the Panthers were outscored by six in the period.
 
The fourth started mainly the same way, with the Panthers getting quick points on free throws, but another scoreless drought of over two minutes, combined with three-pointers falling for the Mean Green did in the Panthers late.
 
Hegedus scored 15 and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore point guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) had the team-high scoring total of 16 points. She added six rebounds.
 
FIU will host Southern Miss and LA Tech next weekend in Miami. The Southern Miss game is next on Thursday, tipping at 7 p.m. from Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
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/.