MIAMI (March 1, 2017) -- FIU women's basketball will conclude the 2016-17 regular season with a pair of Conference USA home contests, culminating with Senior Day on Saturday. The last Thursday night game of the season will be against Middle Tennessee, with the opening tip scheduled for 7 p.m. from Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
FIU is 5-22 this season, 3-13 in Conference USA. Middle Tennessee is 18-9 overall, 13-3 and in second place in the conference.
 
FIU has dropped eight-straight games. The Panthers face Middle Tennessee for the second time this season, with the Blue Raiders defeating FIU 95-43 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee back on January 19. In that game, FIU failed to get a scorer to double digits and the team shot .326, its third-lowest percentage in a C-USA game this year. MT posted a .559 day from the floor, beaten only in the next game at UAB (which shot. 569) in that road contest. FIU is shooting nearly 30 points higher (.378 to .352) at home this season versus road games.
 
FIU suffered first- and third-quarter shooting woes in an 88-47 loss at UTEP last Saturday. The Panthers tied the Miners in the second quarter and outscored them in the fourth period, but allowed 28 and 31 points in the first and third periods, also allowing the Miners to shoot .611 in the third.
 
Two Panthers average double digits in scoring in the conference games. Sophomore Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) scores 13.4 per game in league, while senior Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) scores at a 11.4 points-per-game clip. The duo represents 40.7 percent of the team's scoring for the season.
 
On Senior Day, the Lady Raiders scored 20-or-more points in the first three quarters to dispatch UAB 87-56 and clinch a first-round bye in the C-USA Championships, presented by MetroPCS. Abbey Sissom scored 25 points on 8-for-9 shooting from three-point range. Alex Johnson added 22 points and eight Lady Raiders had at least one rebound. Ty Petty had 12 assists.
 
The Lady Raiders own a 26-9 edge in the 35-game all-time series. Middle Tennessee has won nine in a row in the series. FIU needs to win the last two games and needs help from other league opponents in order to secure the final spot into the C-USA Championship in Birmingham the following weekend.
 
Following this contest, the Panthers end the regular season on Senior Day, taking on UAB 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/.