El Paso, TX - Olivia Trice drops 18 points and the Panthers put up 51 points in the second half to end their western road trip undefeated in a 83-62 win over conference foe, University of Texas at El Paso, at the Miners' home court Saturday afternoon.

It was a team effort from the start for FIU, with six Panthers putting up points in the first quarter of a high scoring affair, finishing the first with 17 points. FIU's leading scorer on the season, sophomore Mya Kone, set the tone early with five points and four rebounds in the opening frame. The reigning conference player of the week ended the match with 13 points and nine rebounds, one shy of a double-double. The guard tacked on a block and a steal for good measure to end her afternoon. In the game, nine Panthers contributed buckets to the win.

The Panthers kept the same pace in the second quarter, scoring 15 in the 10 minutes before the half. Similar to Kone, graduate student Kaliah Henderson led the charge with five points and four rebounds in the quarter. The 5'10 guard finished with 16 points, tying her highest point total of the season. The Tampa native added on five rebounds, two assists, and a steal to round off an impressive game.

The third quarter proved to be a high scoring affair for both teams, with FIU and UTEP both scoring almost as much in the period alone than they did in the first half. The Panthers did it on the shoulders of graduate student Olivia Trice, who had an incredible second half after not scoring in either of the first two quarters. She shot an impressive 3-3 in the third, hitting all of her triples in three straight trips for the Panthers between the 4:31 mark and the 3:01 mark. The Panthers ended with 26 in the third, and continued their offensive dominance in the fourth with 25. Trice extended her fantastic shooting into the final quarter with two more triples. The shooting guard ended with a team high 17 points, going 5-6 with five triples, doing all of her work in the second half. 

FIU ended the game on a 40-21 run over the final 14:31 of the game, shooting 10-13 from the field in the fourth quarter and 52.5% from beyond the arc in the game. The 11-21 from three is their second highest clip of the season, with their win over Bryant being the only game where they shot the ball at a higher rate from three. The conference leader in rebound margin, FIU out-rebounded the Miners 38-27. Leading the conference in scoring before the contest, the Panthers put up 83 points and led for 32:39, trailing for only 4:25.

UP NEXT
The Panthers will return to the Oceanbank Convocation Center for a bout against Liberty on Thursday, January 18th at 7:00 p.m.

TICKETS
For more information on FIU tickets to FIU basketball home games, including student ticketing, call 305-FIU-GAME or visit HERE. 

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