JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Dec. 3, 2020) – The FIU women's basketball team fell on the road Thursday night, 84-66, to the North Florida Ospreys as the Panthers opened the 2020-21 season. 
 
The game marked the debut of the Jesyka Burks-Wiley era at FIU, as the first-year head coach officially capped her first game with the Panthers.

FIU started a trio of newcomers as Raquel Ferrer-Bernad, Kyla Nelson and Alma Danielsson got the starting nod, with returners Fujika Nimmo and Alexus Wykoff rounding out the opening night lineup.

Nimmo and Jiselle Thomas scored 14 points each to lead FIU, while Nelson's 13 was one off of a career-high. Emerald Ekpiteta scored eight and pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds in her Panther debut coming off the bench.
 
The Panthers and the Ospreys played a tight first half as UNF held a one-point lead heading to the beak at 38-37. North Florida's 11-0 run to open the second half proved to be the turning point of the night as the Ospreys earned the 84-66 victory.
 
FIU concludes the Jacksonville two-step on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m., as the Panthers face the Jacksonville Dolphins. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.  
 
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