MIAMI (Feb. 2, 2022) – FIU women's hoops opens a three-game road stretch this Thursday, Feb. 3, beginning with a battle at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
 
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET against the Golden Eagles from the Reed Green Coliseum.

FOLLOW LIVE
FIU versus Southern Miss will be broadcast on ESPN+. Live stats can be found here.

SOUTHER MISS PREVIEW
FIU owns an 11-7 record (3-4 Conference USA) on the season after sweeping UTSA (81-53) and UTEP (72-45) at home last week. The Panthers look to carry momentum onto the road and improve their away record to 3-3 with a win at Southern Miss.

Southern Miss has earned a 12-7 record (4-4 C-USA) including an impressive 7-2 mark at home. The Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak with a win over Rice last Saturday, Jan. 29.

INSIDE THE SERIES
The Golden Eagles sport a 6-3 advantage over the Panthers since FIU joined C-USA. FIU last saw Southern Miss in the C-USA Tournament on March 10, 2021. The Panthers knocked the Golden Eagles out of the league tournament with an 85-75 win in the opening round.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Southern Miss is led offensively by junior Domonique Davis, who paces the squad with 16.3 points per game and 4.2 assists per game. Sophomore center Melyia Grayson grabs a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.

As a team, the Golden Eagles rank second in C-USA with 14.6 assists per game.

The Southern Miss bench outscores its opponents 371-245, with the Golden Eagles rotating a nine-player lineup.

Defensively, the Golden Eagles hold their opponents to a lowly average of .381 percent shooting on field-goal attempts, including .286 percent from beyond the arc.

FIU BY THE NUMBERS
Emerald Ekpiteta is approaching the thousand career-point mark, as the fifth-year forward currently sits at 977 total points.

Sharpshooting forward Kyla Nelson is leading C-USA in 3-point field goal percentage with a .378 clip and ranks second in the league with 2.5 made 3-pointers per game. Nationally, Nelson ranks 46th in 3-pointers per game and 73rd in deep-ball percentage.

Nelson is eight 3-pointers away from reaching 200 for her career. The fifth-year forward leads FIU in scoring with 12.3 points per game and ranks 17th in scoring average among all C-USA players.

As a team, FIU ranks second overall in C-USA in 3-point percentage (.312). The Panthers rank third overall in C-USA with 129 made 3-pointers, including 7.17 per contest.

On the defensive end, FIU ranks third in C-USA with 21.61 forced turnovers per game and 17th overall in the nation. The Panthers also rank third in C-USA with 10.56 steals per game, good for 32nd in the country. FIU sits at fourth overall in the conference with a +3.83 turnover margin and 44th nationwide in the category. The Panthers also rank fourth in C-USA in scoring defense, holding opponents to 58.89 points per game.

Freshman guard Tanajah Hayes ranks 11th in the country among NCAA Division I freshmen with 2.39 steals per game. Hayes also leads all C-USA freshmen in the category while ranking fourth overall in the league and 59th overall in the country.

Hayes is proving to be a two-way player in her first collegiate season, as the freshman leads FIU with 58 total assists on the season. Hayes ranks 13th in C-USA in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.95).

Sophomore Maria Torres leads FIU with 1.5 blocks per game and is tied for fifth in C-USA in the category. Torres is averaging 2.29 blocks per game during league play, which ranks second overall in C-USA.

Ekpiteta leads FIU with 6.61 rebounds per game and ranks 15th in C-USA in the category, while also ranking 9th in the league with 2.72 offensive boards per contest.

The Blue & Gold rank third overall in the league in rebounding defense, giving up only 35.28 rebounds per game.

UP NEXT
FIU continues its three-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 5, against LA Tech. Tip-off against the Lady Techsters is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET from the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana. 

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.