Miami, FL - Down by as many as 16, FIU Women's Basketball claws their way back and pulls out a victory at Western Kentucky behind a Tanajah Hayes game-winning triple and 23 points from Kaliah Henderson. The 71-69 victory breaks a two-game losing streak for Panthers, as they head into their last homestead of the season before the conference tournament.

Western Kentucky took control early, going on an 8-2 run to start the first quarter, and a 5-0 run to end it. FIU trailed 21-15 going into the second quarter. The Hilltoppers kept their hot hand in the next frame, scoring 17 points and lengthening their lead, 38-25 going into halftime.

They started to gain the hot hand in the third quarter, putting up 23 points and shooting 57.1% coming out of the half. Seven Panthers contributed points in the frame, led by graduate student Kaliah Henderson with seven. Going down by as many as 16 in the quarter, FIU started the quarter with an 8-0 run, and ended it with an 8-0 run, cutting their deficit to eight leading into the last quarter. The guard ended the contest scoring a game-high 23 points on 9-15 shooting, racking up seven rebounds, two steals and a block to round off her incredible performance. 

The start of the fourth quarter proved to be a back-and-forth affair with neither team giving ground until the last two minutes of the game, when FIU sprinted out to a 9-0 run over the final 1:55 of the game. Kaliah Henderson tied the game with a baseline jumper with 49 seconds left in the game, and Tanajah Hayes capitalized with a game-winning three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the game. The Panthers battened down the hatches on the other end and held on for win number 19 on the year.

Olivia Trice led the charge in the fourth quarter with eight points in the frame, ending the game with 18 points. The graduate student hit four three-pointers and stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks to round out her night. The Panthers played strong, bringing in 42 rebounds and outrebounding the Hilltoppers by eight. The team brought in 18 offensive rebounds as opposed to WKU's 13, converting 23 second chance points. 

UP NEXT
The Panthers will report for their final homestead of the season against UTEP on Thursday, March 7 at 7p.m.

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