BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Women's basketball (18-10, 11-6 CUSA) will play their final game of the 2025-26 regular season when they take on Western Kentucky (8-20, 4-13 CUSA) on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. ET.

Saturday, March 7 at Western Kentucky

• Time/Site: 2 p.m. ET / E.A. Diddle Arena

• Series History: Western Kentucky leads, 38-14

QUICK FACTS

FIU beat Middle Tennessee in a double-overtime thriller on March 5, completing the season sweep of the Blue Raiders. The sweep marked the first for the Panthers against MTSU since the 2001-02 season. The victory was also the first for FIU in Murfreesboro since 2012.

Coming into the matchup, FIU are second in CUSA in scoring on the season with 70.3 points scored per game, and are also second in CUSA-play, putting up 65.4 points on CUSA opponents.

Rhema Collins has been a force all season, coming into the matchup with 12 double-doubles, first in CUSA and 29th in the nation. On the season, Collins is second in CUSA with 17.4 points per game, third with 8.9 rebounds per game and first in blocks per game with 1.6.

Parris Atkins has been as advertised from her CUSA Preseason All-Conference selection. The guard is third in CUSA, averaging 16.5 points per game, and has been all over the court on defense. With 2.9 steals per game, she is second in CUSA and 21st in the nation in steals. 

Rhema Collins scored a career-high 40 points against Georgia State. It is the most points scored in CUSA this season, and the most any player in CUSA has scored since the 2022-23 season. It's the first time an FIU player has had a 40-point performance since 2017, and she is only the seventh player since at least 1994 to achieve 40 points in a game as a Panther.

Parris Atkins scored a career-high 35 points against Missouri State in the Panthers' first game of conference-play this season. She is only the 24th player in program history to score 35 or more points in a game since 2005, and it is the second most points scored that any player in Conference USA has scored this season.

Atkins also scored 20+ points two games in a row from 1/10-1/15/23. She is the first player to achieve that status since the 2022-23 season. Rhema Collins followed that up with another two 20+ point in a row performances in the Panthers' road trip at New Mexico State and UTEP.

Judit Valero, on her birthday, scored a career-high 19 points in the Panthers' overtime victory at Middle Tennessee. The junior went 7-10 from the field and 3-5 from beyond the arc.

Rhema Collins and Adama Badjie Coly both had double-doubles against Western Kentucky this season. This was the first time two Panthers had a double-double in the same game since the opening game of the 2024-25 season.

Freshman Grecia Ferrer Leal has been as good as you can get from a first year, ranking in the top-5 in the league in both assists per game and total assists. 

Junior Denika Lightbourne had a career day against Jacksonville State when she put up a staggering 25 points in just 16 minutes played. She surpassed her previous career-high of 21 which she achieved in the first game of the season against South Florida.

CUSA Leaders:

OFFENSIVE

Scoring:

Rhema Collins, 2nd - 17.4 ppg

Parris Atkins, 3rd - 16.5 ppg

Rebounding:

Rhema Collins, 3rd - 8.9 rpg

Field Goal %:

Rhema Collins, 4th - 45.8%

Free-Throw %:

Parris Atkins, 4th - 77.8%

Rhema Collins, 6th - 74.2%

Assists:

Grecia Ferrer, 5th - 3.8 apg

Total Assists:

Grecia Ferrer, 2nd - 105

DEFENSIVE

Blocks:

Rhema Collins, 1st - 1.6 bpg

Steals:

Parris Atkins, 2nd - 2.9 spg

Rhema Collins, 7th - 2.1

Sophomore Ndate Ndiaye scored her career-high against Florida National with 15 points. She surpassed her previous career-high of 13 points which came in a victory over Seattle in the FIU Thanksgiving Tournament. 

FIU welcomes back five returners to Miami in senior Parris Atkins, redshirt-sophomore Fantasia James, junior Judit Valero and sophomores Ndate Ndiaye and Claudia Marina.

Parris Atkins and Fantasia James were both honored with CUSA All-Conference awards last season. Parris Atkins, then in her first season as a Panther, was an immediate contributor and made the CUSA All-Conference Second Team. James, a redshirt freshman at the time, was named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team for her performance during the 2024-25 season.

FIU has the most international players rostered in Conference USA. The Panthers boast 12 of their 14 players born outside of the United States.

FIU is coming off a 2024-25 season that saw the Panthers go 11-18 overall and 7-11 in conference-play, ending sixth in the conference. 

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

Western Kentucky comes into the last game of the season with a 4-13 record against Conference USA opponents, last in CUSA. Scoring 57.3 points per game while allowing 65 a contest, WKU is 11th and ninth in CUSA, respectively. 

Forward Salma Khedr comes into the game as the leading scorer for Western Kentucky, putting up 10.4 points per game while grabbing 3.2 rebounds a contest. 

She is complimented by guard Trinity Rowe, narrowly trailing Khedr for the team lead in scoring with 10.2 points a game, also leading the team in assists per game with 4.5, good for second in CUSA.

The Panthers are searching for their first sweep over WKU since the 2023-24 season. 

A Panther win and a Missouri State loss against Middle Tennessee will see FIU have the two-seed in the CUSA tournament, which would be their highest ever seeding at the start of the event.

TICKETS

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

SOCIAL MEDIA

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@fiuwbb), Twitter (@FIUWBB), and Facebook (@FIUWBasketball) for all the latest Women's Basketball news. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSportson Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.