MIAMI – FIU Women's Basketball's Denika Lightbourne was placed on the Conference USA All-Academic team for the 2025-26 season, conference officials announced Thursday afternoon.

Lightbourne, in her first year as a Panther, is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, holding a 3.75 GPA for the academic school year. The guard also had the honor of making the FIU Dean's List for her performance in the classroom this year.

On the season, the Bahamas native has been an offensive sparkplug for FIU. Playing in 22 games and starting in seven, the junior is third on the Panthers in scoring, averaging 9.5 points per game. The guard exploded for two 20-point games during the campaign, first scoring a then career-high 21 points against USF, before marking a new high with 25 points against Jacksonville State. 

Proving she's not just a scoring threat, Lightbourne notched seven games with 5+ rebounds, as well as seven games with three or more assists.

This was the first CUSA All-Academic selection for the Panthers since the 2023-24 season when FIU saw two players receive the honor.

2026 WBB All-Academic Team

Ella Wanzer, Delaware 

Denika Lightbourne, FIU 

Emmy Stout, Liberty 

Paris Bradley, LA Tech 

Fanta Kone, Sam Houston 

UP NEXT 
The Panthers will head to Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky on March 5 and 7 for their last road trip of the season before heading to the Conference USA tournament. 

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