Miami, FL - FIU Women's Hoops will host New Mexico State for Senior Night on Saturday, March 8 at 1:00 p.m. The Panthers are coming off a dominant 88-62 win over UTEP for their 20th win of the year.
Saturday, March 9 vs NM State
*since 2006
UTEP got off to a hot start with a 9-0 run, but the Panthers immediately responded with a 10-0 run of their own. FIU took the lead for good with 3:31 left in the first quarter. After ending the first quarter with a 18-15 lead, the Panthers' offense surged in the second, putting up 32 points and out-scoring the Miners by 20 in the 10 minutes before the half. FIU shot 60% from the field in the second frame and 44.4% from three, going into the half up 50-27.
FIU kept the pace in the second half, putting up 19 points in the third and fourth quarter with Sophomore Angena Belloso doing all of her work in the second half, leading the team with 12 in the final 20 minutes. The Panthers were able to keep the Miners at arms length throughout the game, completing the season sweep over UTEP 88-62.
Six Panthers scored in double-digits, led by junior Tanajah Hayes with 15 points. The guard also added on nine rebounds and seven assists, with three steals for good measure. Sophomore Mya Kone, the Panthers leading scorer on the season, ended with 13 points and five rebounds, as well as two steals and two blocks on the defensive end. Kaliah Henderson ended with 11 points and four rebounds, while a pair of graduate students in Courtney Prenger and Olivia Trice ended with 10. Trice also had the most steals on the team with four.
FIU won in almost every statistical category, forcing 21 turnovers and capitalizing with 27 points off turnovers. Furthermore, the Panthers crashed on the glass, grabbing 46 boards as opposed to the Miners 34, with 17 of those being offensive rebounds. FIU put up 21 second chance points as a result of their rebounding prowess. The Panthers also played big down low, with 40 of their points coming in the paint.Â
Scouting NM State
New Mexico State (11-17, 5-10 CUSA) is coming off an 60-51 loss to Jax State on Saturday, March 2. The Aggies sit at eighth in the conference standings and also sit at eighth in scoring offense, putting up 59.9 points per game. Despite their woes on the offensive side of the ball, NM State is a force on defense, allowing only 61.1 points per game this season.Â
NM State is led by senior Molly Kaiser, coming into the game as the sixth leading scorer in the conference at 14.5 points per game on the season. She is an efficient shooter, placing seventh in CUSA in field-goal percentage and second in free-throw percentage, going 83.7% from the charity stripe. Junior Jalia Harding is the second leading scorer on NM State, putting up 9.5 points per game. An effective three-point shooter, the guard is fourth in CUSA in three-pointers made per game with 2.1, shooting them at a 37% clip.Â
The Panthers are in search of the season sweep over NM State, beating the Aggies in a hard-nose battle early in the season 57-52.
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