MIAMI, Fla. – The FIU women's basketball team is on the road for two games this week and will start its road trip Thursday evening (Jan. 5) against the Charlotte 49ers at Halton Arena for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
Thursday, Jan. 5 at Charlotte (6-6, 2-1 C-USA)
- Time / Site: 6 p.m. at Halton Arena
- TV: ESPN+
- Live Stats
- Series History: Charlotte leads 11-1
The 49ers will host the Panthers after FIU won their previous game against North Texas in their C-USA home opener. The Panthers are riding a two-game win streak and have evened out their conference record to 1-1. Thanks to the win streak, FIU's overall record is over the .500 mark sitting at 6-5.
This will be only the third road game for the Panthers as they have played nine out of 11 games at home to start the season with a 6-3 record inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
The first two months of the season are in the books for FIU and their offense has been executing at a high clip in Conference USA. As a team, the Panthers are averaging 75.8 points per game which is third in the conference.
The high scoring offense can be linked to the Panthers' success from behind the arc this season. FIU has made 81 three pointers (4
th in C-USA) while having the third best shooting percentage in the conference from three-point range at 32.5%.
The Panthers shot an impressive 48.1 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from three-point range in last Saturday's win over North Texas. Redshirt freshman
Sifa Joyeuse continues to lead the Panthers in scoring (13.5 ppg) and is eighth in C-USA with that mark. Joyeuse is also fourth in the conference with 25 three pointers made.
FIU has also been very active on the boards. They lead the conference averaging 42.7 rebounds per game and pace C-USA averaging 17 offensive rebounds each contest. Senior center
Hope Butera leads the Panthers in rebounding averaging 5.9 boards and leads the conference with 36 offensive rebounds corralled.
Junior forwards
Maria Torres and
Ajae Yoakum are tied for sixth in the conference averaging 2.36 offensive rebounds per game to give FIU three players in the top 10 for that category.
FIU's defense has excelled this season on initiating turnovers. The Panthers are second in the conference averaging 11.27 steals per game and fourth in causing 21.09 turnovers per game for opposing teams.
FIU has three players in the C-USA top 10 in steals per game. Sophomore guard
Tanajah Hayes leads the conference with 2.5 steals per game and senior guard
Kaliah Henderson is in third place averaging 2.3 steals. Joyeuse cracks the top 10 sitting in eighth place recording 1.8 steals.
SCOUTING CHARLOTTE
The 49ers enter Thursday's matchup 6-6 on the season, including a 2-1 mark in Conference USA, while playing well at home with a 4-1 record.
The last time Charlotte played, they earned a victory over conference opponent, Louisiana Tech, 66-57. Their lone conference loss was against Middle Tennessee, 71-46, on Dec. 29. Charlotte averages 60.0 points per game on 39.5 percent shooting, including an average of 3.75 threes per game on 28 percent beyond the arc.
The 49ers have three players averaging double digit points headlined by fifth year guard Mikayla Boykin who leads the team with 15.6 and paces them with 6.8 rebounds per game. Redshirt sophomore guard Dazia Lawrence is second on the 49ers averaging 14.1 points while fifth year guard Jada McMillian is averaging 12.3 points and leads C-USA logging 4.8 assists per game.
UP NEXT
The Panthers wrap up their two-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 7 to take on the University of Alabama at Birmingham at 1 p.m. in Bartow Arena The game will be streamed on ESPN+
TICKETS
For more information on FIU tickets to FIU basketball home games, including student ticketing, call 305-FIU-GAME or visit
HERE
SOCIAL MEDIA
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@FIUWBasketball) for all the latest Women's Basketball news. General athletic news can also be found at
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