Game Details
UAB 71, FIU 61
Records: FIU 6-13 (3-3 C-USA), UAB 16-3 (5-1 C-USA).
Thursday, January 25 | 7 p.m. | Miami, Fla. | Ocean Bank Convocation Center
 
The Basics                              

• FIU had its three-game home winning streak snapped by UAB 71-61 at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center Thursday in Conference USA women's basketball action. Redshirt junior Kiandre'a Pound (Gifford, Florida / Sebastian River HS) scored a season-high 24 points, including 10 in the opening period, to go with 13 rebounds and her team-leading eighth double-double of the season.
• FIU slips to 6-13 overall, 3-3 in league play. UAB stays atop the league standings with a 5-1 mark, part of a 16-3 overall record. 
• FIU had one of its fastest starts of the season, jumping out a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes, extending to 10 points by the midway point of the first quarter. The first timeout of the period came with under three minutes to play, with the Panthers leading 17-8.
• That's when the Blazers took over the game, scoring the next eight points of the quarter, to lock the score at 17. They held FIU to just six points in the second quarter, on 3-for-15 shooting, and a 31-23 lead at intermission.
• From the three-minute mark of the first to four minutes into the second half, UAB outscored FIU 34-11, to take a 15-point lead, the largest of the evening.
• Shots didn't start falling for the Panthers again until the fourth quarter, when FIU got the game all the way down to five points, but a missed open layup to get it to one possession rimmed out, and UAB controlled things the rest of the way.
• With just seven three-point field goals to her name this season, Pound nailed five three-point baskets, a career high, for her 24 points. Four of her long-range shots came in the second half, when the Panthers needed them for the near comeback.
• FIU kept things close in the rebounding column, which UAB won 49-43, thanks to a career-high 13 from freshman Callie Cavanaugh (Holyoke, Massachusetts).
• Junior point guard Kristian Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) had seven points, eight assists and six rebounds.

 
Stat of the Match                                                                                                                                 
The game was nearly won on defense, as FIU held the league's top-shooting team to just .342, more than 100 points below the Blazers' season mark of .461. But 16 offensive rebounds led to 18 second-chance points, ultimately the deciding factor. 
 
From the Sideline
"I didn't see us play with the same amount of purpose that we had before," said FIU Head Coach Tiara Malcom. "Looking at the fourth quarters of our last games to tonight, the looks on their faces were a little different. It comes down to believing that you are going to win."
 
Next Up 
FIU begins a three-game road trip this Sunday, when the Panthers travel to Marshall, looking for their first road win of the season. Tip off from Huntington, West Virginia, is at 1 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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