Houston, Texas. – The FIU women's basketball team wraps up their two-game road trip tomorrow as they prepare to take on Rice Saturday afternoon, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. ET inside Tudor Fieldhouse.

Saturday, Feb. 11 at Rice (16-6, 7-6 C-USA)

• Time / Site: 2 p.m. ET at Tudor Fieldhouse
• TV: CUSA.tv
• Live Stats
• Series History: Rice leads 8-3

The Panthers (12-11, 7-7 C-USA) are now fifth in the C-USA standings after a loss on Thursday night against LA Tech, 76-65. Prior to that, FIU won its last two games defeating Charlotte, 50-44, and UAB, 84- 81, at home last week.
 
FIU's offense is fourth in C-USA averaging 69.74 points per game and fourth in the league with 140 three pointers made averaging 6.09 per game. The Panthers are 7^th in the conference shooting 70 percent from the charity stripe.
 
Senior guard Kaliah Henderson tied her career high 28 points in FIU's previous game after being named the Conference USA Women's Basketball player of the week averaging 24 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3 steals in FIU's two victories last week.
 
Henderson has scored double figures in nine consecutive games and in 12 of the last 13 games. She is FIU's leading scorer averaging 15.1 points per game, the seventh best scoring mark in C-USA, and fourth in the conference averaging 2.0 per game.
 
Redshirt freshman Sifa Joyeuse is second on the Panthers averaging 10.2 points (20^th in C-USA) and is fourth in the conference with 43 threes made this season. She recorded seven points and was 3-3 from the foul line Thursday night against the Lady Techsters.
 
Sophomore guard Tanajah Hayes is scoring right under 10 points per game (9.6) and is one of the top defensive guards in the conference. She is second in C-USA averaging 2.59 steals per game and leads FIU averaging 3.8 assists. (4^th in C-USA). Hayes also recorded her career high in points (27) last week against Charlotte and led the team in assists (6) and rebounds (6).
 
On the glass, the Panthers are third in the conference in rebounds averaging 39.8 per game, and first in C-USA averaging 15.39 offensive boards (354 total).

Defensively, the Panthers are second in the conference with 234 steals this season averaging 10.17 per game and second in forcing 19.65 turnovers per game for opposing teams.
 
SCOUTING RICE
The Owls enter Saturday's showdown 16-6 on the season with a 7-6 mark in conference play. Rice had the best start in their program's history after finishing non-conference action with a 9-0 record.
 
The Owls are coming off an 85-64 victory over FAU and that win has moved them to fourth place in the C-USA standings, one game in front of the Panthers.

Rice is second in the conference in scoring averaging 73.36 points per game on 45 percent shooting (2^nd in C-USA). They are fourth in the league shooting 73 percent from the charity stripe.
 
The Owls have a well-balanced offense with four players averaging double figure points, including three in the top 20 in C-USA.
 
Senior forward Ashlee Austin leads Rice with 12.9 points, the 10^th best mark in C-USA, while sophomore forward Malia Fisher is not far behind averaging 12.5 points and is the Owls leading rebounder grabbing 7.4 boards per game. Senior guard Destiny Jackson paces the Owls with 3.5 assists per game and is third on the team in scoring (11.9).
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers will have a full week off from games and will resume action the following Saturday, Feb. 18 as they return to the Ocean Bank Convocation Center to host Middle Tennessee State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET and 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
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@fiuwbb), Twitter (@FIUWBB), and Facebook (@FIUWBasketball) for all the latest Women's Basketball news. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.