MIAMI – Rhema Collins's buzzer beater to send the game to overtime highlights women's basketball's (21-11) overtime victory over Stetson (20-12) in the first round of the WNIT, 76-73.
Down three with just four seconds remaining, Rhema Collins stole the Stetson inbound pass before taking it herself and draining a deep triple to tie the game as regulation expired and sending the game to overtime.
The win marked the second straight WNIT appearance with a victory over Stetson in the first round, and kept the Panthers undefeated over the Hatters in the tournament, 3-0. It is the seventh all-time victory in the Women's National Invitation Tournament for FIU.
The game was even from start to finish, with the teams ending the first, second and fourth quarter tied.
Aside from the buzzer beater, Collins was a star. The Conference USA Player of the Year ended the game with a team-high 24 points on an efficient 9-16 shooting, adding on 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals. Her double-double gives her 14 on the season, tying her for first in the conference up to this point in the season.
Both Judit Valero and Parris Atkins ended with 13 points in the contest. Valero garnered four rebounds, three assists and one steal, while Atkins added four rebounds, three assists and four steals to her line.
Grecia Ferrer Leal was the final Panther in double-digits, scoring 12 points while tying a career-high with seven assists. The freshman grabbed two rebounds and took away two steals to round out her performance.
This is the second overtime victory of the year for FIU. The last time FIU had two overtime victories in the same season was the 2009-10 season when the Panthers beat Western Michigan and Florida Atlantic.
UP NEXT
FIU will travel to Abilene Christian for round two of the WNIT on Tuesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. ET.
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