MIAMI – FIU women's basketball announced their non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2026-27 season on Wednesday afternoon.
This will be the seventh season under head coach Jesyka Burks-Wiley's tenure leading the program. The team will welcome back four players from the 2025-26, including sophomore Grecia Ferrer Leal, who started 32 of 33 games as a freshman and was fifth in CUSA in assists per game with 3.8, and second in total assists with 125.
Senior Adama Badjie Coly and redshirt junior Fantasia James will also be back with the team, with both Panthers seeing significant playing time last season and Coly ending the season second on the team in double-doubles. James is a former 2025 CUSA All-Freshman selection and the current longest tenured Panther on the team, coming in as a freshman in the 2023-24 season.
The non-conference slate includes 10 games, seven of which being at home and three sending the Panthers on the road.
FIU will open up the season at home after starting on the road last year, welcoming the 2026 ASUN Tournament Champions, Jacksonville, to the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on November 3. This is the first time since the 2011-12 campaign that the Panthers' first game will come against the Dolphins, with the Panthers winning that contest 63-37.
FIU will go on to welcome another ASUN team in Stetson on November 10. The Panthers beat the Hatters at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in the first round of the WNIT last season.
FIU embarks on two back-to-back away contests, their first of which coming on November 15 at USF, before they face their crosstown rivals Miami on November 19. It is the second season in a row FIU will play USF after not seeing the Bulls since the 2017-18 campaign. This will be the team's first meeting against Miami since 2024-25, and the 61st meeting between the two programs all-time.
From there the Panthers will host the annual FIU Thanksgiving Classic, welcoming North Dakota, NIU and Manhattan to Miami for the event. FIU's first round game will come on November 27 against North Dakota, with their second and final game of the tournament coming on November 29.
FIU will start the last month of 2026 against Florida Atlantic on December 5, before traveling to Statesboro for a matchup at Georgia Southern on December 12.
FIU will end the non-conference slate with their annual FIU Holiday Classic, welcoming Morgan State, Hampton and North Carolina Central for the two-day event. The Panthers will see Morgan State for their first game on December 18, and NC Central for the Panthers' final game of the non-conference schedule on December 19.
CUSA play starts at home against New Mexico State on January 2, with the 2026 Conference USA Basketball Championships will once again be held at the Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama, from March 9–13.
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