MIAMI (March 3, 2017) -- FIU Women's Basketball finishes the regular season and hosts Senior Day ceremonies prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. tipoff against UAB on Lime Court at FIU Arena. The Panthers are 5-23 on the season, 3-14 in Conference USA. The Blazers are the only Conference USA team that FIU beat in Miami last season.
 
The game will be the last in the careers of seniors Janka Hegedus (Budapest, Hungary) and Nina Todorovic (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina), who will be playing in their 82^nd and 88^th career games, respectively.
 
FIU has two players averaging in double figures. Hegedus has seen her average slowly climb in the past weeks to a 10.9-points average, while sophomore guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) scores 12.2 points this season for FIU, ranked 22^nd in the conference. Hudson is seventh in the league by averaging 4.4 assists per game. She is just one of nine players in the conference with more than 120 total assists this season. Her 124 assists amassed so far are her exact total from last season as a freshman. FIU comes off a tough loss Thursday night to Middle Tennessee. The Lady Raiders, second in the league standings, posted three quarters of over .500 shooting from the floor in an 88-53 decision in Miami.
 
UAB sits at 14-14 on the year, 7-10 in conference. The Blazers barely escaped at Florida Atlantic Thursday night in a 77-74 victory in Boca Raton. The Blazers are led in scoring by freshman Rachael Childress, who posts 12.6 points per contest, tied for 19^th in the league. Childress also ranks third in Conference USA in three-point shooting. She is third in percentage (.409) and second in made threes per game (3.1). The Blazers have a top-10 rebounder in the league, as Keonna Farmer grabs 6.8 rebounds per contest.
 
The Blazers own a 7-3 edge in the all-time series, winning four of the last five. FIU's lone win in the last five games was in Miami last February 4, in a 72-61 victory, the first league win for the Panthers of the season. This is only the third game played between the programs in Miami, with each team winning once.
 
The key for FIU is to get going early, as the first quarter has been the worst offensively by average this year. Each quarter has statistically been progressively better for FIU, but the disparity in scoring in the first (-212 points) and third (-218) quarters has put a lot of pressure on the Panthers to make large runs at the ends of halves.
 
A win would improve last season's overall record by one and the Conference USA mark by two games and add to the highest home-wins total since 2013-14.
 
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/.