MIAMI (Jan. 29, 2022) - FIU women's hoops displayed one of its best performances of the season on Saturday afternoon at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center (OBCC), defeating the UTEP Miners in blowout fashion by a score of 72-45.
The Panthers improved their record to 11-7 on the season and 3-4 in Conference USA. UTEP fell to 12-7 overall and 4-5 in the league. FIU also improved to 9-4 at the OBCC.
The Blue & Gold carried momentum over from Thursday's dominant win over UTSA (81-53), as the Panthers routed the Miners by a whopping margin of 27 points and held UTEP to its lowest scoring output of the season.
"This is us," said head coach
Jesyka Burks-Wiley, in reference to FIU's impressive back-to-back victories. "Our team works incredibly hard. They're doing extra, they're dialing in. Anything we ask of them, they're doing it and more. When we're fortunate enough to have a group that's built like that, you end up with a game like this."
Entering the week UTEP ranked third overall in C-USA with 69.18 points per game, but the Panther defense dug in and held the Miners to a lowly 26 percent shooting in the contest while forcing 25 UTEP turnovers, including 15 steals.
The Panther fast break was clicking for a second straight game, providing 15 points in transition.
"It starts with defense," said Coach Burks-Wiley. "Once we get a stop [or a] rebound, there aren't too many teams that are going to be able to stop us in the open floor. We've got some great athletes running in those open lanes and we're fortunate enough to have players that are incredibly unselfish on top of it."
Four Panthers scored in double digits in the game, with
Grace Hunter (14), Ariel Colon (13),
Tanajah Hayes (12), and
Zaida Gonzalez (12) all contributing. FIU's bench contributed a potent 30 points compared to only 13 from UTEP.
"When you have kids that are individual players that can score buckets at will and can also drop it off and drop dimes for their teammates, it makes the rim a whole lot bigger," said Burks-Wiley.
The Panthers dished 17 assists as a team in the game after posting 21 against UTSA, marking FIU's most assists (38) over a two-game span this season.
FIU opened the game on a 24-5 run and splashed four treys in the first quarter to fuel the effort. The Panthers held UTEP to 13 percent shooting in the period, while FIU shot 60 percent overall on the opposite end of the floor, including 67 percent on threes.
With a 24-8 lead to begin the second quarter, the Panthers continued to dig in defensively and allowed only three made field goal attempts by the Miners in the period. The Panthers bullied their way to the free-throw line in the second frame, hitting six of seven attempts at the charity stripe.
FIU carried an 18 point lead into the second half, up 38-20, and never let up. The Panthers outscored the Miners 34-25 in the second half while logging 20 points in the paint and 10 points on the fast break. On the defensive end, FIU nabbed nine steals and held UTEP to 36 percent shooting in the second half.
The Panthers buried 7-of-13 shots in the third quarter for a 54 percent shooting clip and entered the fourth quarter up 56-35, before forcing seven UTEP turnovers in the final 10 minutes and outscoring the Miners 16-10 to close out an impressive contest.
Hayes and center
Hope Butera each logged a game-high three steals in the game, while Gonzalez and
Olivia Trice registered two apiece.
Emerald Ekpiteta and Butera each posted a team-high seven rebounds.
Hayes led FIU with four assists and shot an impressive 6-for-7 on field-goal attempts.
UP NEXT
FIU hits the road next week for a three-game road trip, beginning with Southern Miss on Thursday, Feb. 3. Game time against the Golden Eagles is set for 7 p.m. ET.
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