HOUSTON (February 9, 2017) -- Senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) tied career-highs with 25 points and 11 rebounds, but the Rice Owls shot .577 in the second half and took a one-point game at the half to a 74-55 win at Tudor Fieldhouse Thursday night in Conference USA women's basketball action. The Panthers fall to 5-17 on the season, 3-8 in C-USA. The Owls are now 13-9 overall, 4-7 in Conference USA.
 
In addition to the Hegedus double-double, the fifth of the season for a Panther, FIU got its sixth in the same game as redshirt sophomore Kiandre'a Pound (Gifford, Florida / Sebastian River HS) scored 13 points and collected 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
 
"I was happy that our post players were playing off each other and contributing. Now, the perimeter has to add to that," said FIU Head Coach Tiara Malcom. "We played hard for the most part, but we did not get the consistency to match the effort into the second half."
 
The Panthers and Owls battled to a tight first quarter. FIU hit three early three-point baskets, while Rice worked the shot clock on its possessions. FIU finished the period outscoring Rice 13-6, while Hegedus scored nine points in the first and the Panthers led 19-18 at the end of one. All seven made baskets in the first period came on a Panthers assist.
 
Both teams shot better than 50 percent in the second period. Hegedus had a steal and took it coast-to-coast, got fouled and nailed the free throw. She was 6-for-6 at halftime. That was the only basket of the first half for FIU without an assist. The Panthers had 11 helpers for 12 made baskets. Sophomore Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) produced four in the first half.
 
The second quarter started kinder for Rice. After missing all seven attempts from three-point range in the first, the Owls hit their first two attempts and got the lead out to five with six minutes to go in the half.
 
Rice scored the first 12 points of the third quarter and knocked down 6-of-7 from three-point range in the period in a disastrous 26-6 frame.  Rice was .833 from the field and FIU was just 2-for-12 in the period that made the difference in the game.
 
"Rice started to go on a run and we just could not recover from it, added Malcom. "Coming out of halftime, Rice hit shots in the second half that they didn't in the first half and we have to commit to defense to win these games. We have to avoid the empty possessions and clean up those things."
 
Rice finally slowed down in the fourth, but the Panthers could only knock down four baskets in the last period.
 
Freshman Alexis Gordon (Palm Bay, Florida / Covenant Christian) added 10 points and five assists for FIU.
 
FIU completes this first Texas road trip with a Saturday afternoon tilt at North Texas. Tip time is scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern.
 
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/.