MIAMI (Jan. 12, 2021) – The FIU women's basketball team returns to its home floor on Thursday, Jan. 13, for a Conference USA battle against the visiting UAB Blazers.
 
Game time is set for 7 p.m. ET from the Ocean Bank Convocation Center (OBCC).

FOLLOW LIVE
The contest will be streamed live on CUSA-TV. Live stats for the game can be found here. 

UAB MATCHUP PREVIEW
The Panthers own an 8-4 record on the season and are looking for their first C-USA win of the current campaign. FIU dropped a close contest by a score of 51-63 against a hot WKU squad in the Panthers' C-USA opener last Saturday, Jan. 8. The Blue & Gold is aiming to improve its record at the OBCC to 7-3 this season with a win over the Blazers.

UAB has posted an 8-5 overall record (1-1 C-USA) and is coming off a loss against UTSA (60-68) on the road. The Blazers opened up their C-USA slate with a win over UTEP (76-74) in El Paso, Texas. UAB has struggled to win games on the road this season, winning only two of its seven games in enemy territories thus far.

INSIDE THE SERIES
UAB leads the all-time series over FIU by a margin of 11-3, including an 8-2 mark since joining C-USA. This will be the first meeting between the two opponents in the Coach Burks-Wiley era, as the programs did not meet in the shortened 2020-21 season. FIU is looking to prove its recent growth by snapping a seven-game losing skid to the Blazers, which dates back to the 2015-16 campaign. The Panthers last defeated the Blazers on Feb. 4, 2016 by a score of 72-61.

SCOUTING THE BLAZERS
UAB is led by senior center Zakyia Weathersby, who averages a total of 16.4 points per game. Weathersby is one of C-USA's premiere post players this season, as the center leads the league in rebounds (135), rebounds per game (11.2), blocks (22), double-doubles (8), shooting percentage (57.6%), and field goals made (83).

FIU will need to keep Weathersby off the offensive glass, as the center ranks third in the NCAA with 4.8 offensive boards per game.

As a team, UAB averages 68.6 points per contest while allowing only 59.8 from its opponents. The Blazers have held their opponents to a lowly 35 percent shooting from the floor this season, which ranks second-best in C-USA. UAB also ranks fourth in the league in 3-point percentage defense (25%).

FIU BY THE NUMBERS
Emerald Ekpiteta is approaching the thousand career-point mark, as the Panther currently sits with 945 total points over her five NCAA seasons.

FIU ranks third overall among all 14 Conference USA teams with 89 made 3-pointers, including 7.42 per contest.

Sharpshooting forward Kyla Nelson is leading C-USA in 3-point field goal percentage with a .361 clip and ranks second in the league with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game.

FIU's defense has allowed a stingy 57.83 points per game this season, which ranks fourth-best in the league.

The Panthers also rank third in C-USA with 10.75 steals per game.

FIU ranks second in C-USA in rebounding defense, giving up only 34.67 rebounds per game.

Fifth-year transfer Ariel Colon leads FIU in scoring (13.1 ppg) while shooting an efficient .450 percent from the field. Colon ranks second on the squad with 19 made 3-pointers. Among all C-USA players, Colon ranks 15th in 3-pointers made per-game (1.58) and 17th in scoring average.

Forward Ekpiteta leads FIU with 7.3 rebounds per game, while Colon ranks second with 4.3.

Graduate students Nelson and Ekpiteta rank second and third on FIU with 11.8 ppg and 9.3 ppg, respectively.

Freshman guard Tanajah Hayes is having a nice two-way impact for FIU this season as the Panther leads the squad with 34 total assists and 28 steals while shooting an impressive 46 percent on field-goal attempts. 

Hayes ranks seventh overall in C-USA with 2.33 steals per contest.

Sophomore Maria Torres leads FIU with 1.2 blocks per game and ranks ninth in C-USA in the category.

UP NEXT
FIU is back in action at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center this Saturday, Jan. 15, when the Panthers welcome Middle Tennessee. Tipoff against the Blue Raiders is scheduled for Noon ET.

TICKETS
For tickets to all upcoming women's basketball home games, click here.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIUWBB on Facebook and @FIU_WBB on Twitter and @FIUWBB on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.