By: Rico Albarracin / Asst. Sports Director
The Panthers not only managed to hold the number one scoring offense in the Sun Belt Conference to under their season average, but they also managed to come away with a critical victory.
FIU was able to upset Middle Tennessee State 62-59 on Jan 29, giving coach Cindy Russo her 600th victory as head coach of the Panthers, and her 640th win overall. Jerica Coley and Finda Mansare led the charge offensively, scoring 15 and 14 points respectively. Elisa Carey fell one rebound short of her first double-double of the season, contributing 12 points and nine rebounds.
FIU (9-14, SBC 4-5) got off to a hot start over the number one team in the SBC, as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead five minutes into the game. Finda Mansare and Carmen Miloglav led the FIU charge, scoring eight and seven points respectively. MTSU (17-5, SBC 8-1) would finally break the scoreless drought when Icelyn Elie scored a free throw and a layup. Everything was going wrong for the Blue Raiders, starting the game 1-16 from the field and committing eight turnovers, all in the first 10 minutes of play, at which point the Panthers were holding on to a 19-3 lead.
“We ran our offense to perfection.” said Carey when talking about the Panther’s first half surge.
The Panther offense became a little stagnant throughout the rest of the first half, as they managed eight points over the next six minutes. The FIU defense was strong until they allowed consecutive three point shots by Elie and Anne Marie Lanning to make the score 27-17 with 3:45 left in the first half. MTSU managed to continue their hot streak from three-point range, as Jordyn Luffman hit a three of her own to help the Blue Raiders continue their comeback. The halftime buzzer could not come sooner for FIU, has they clung to a 27-22 lead.
“I told them to hang tough. This was a very good team and we weren’t going to keep them down for long,” Russo said.
FIU looked to start the second half the same way they started the first: by attacking the basket and running successful fast-breaks. Mansare and Miloglav would be the catalysts once again, combining for nine of the Panthers first 11 points. MTSU would continue the pace at which they ended the first half, matching FIU point for point. Both teams continued the frenetic pace of the game, as FIU was able to hang on to 45-41 lead with 11:41 left in the game. Traveling would become an issue for both teams, as the referees blew the whistle a few times throughout the game.
The Blue Raiders were able to tie the game at 45-45 with inside scoring by Laken Leonard, who scored on consecutive possessions. The Panthers would stem the tide by scoring critical jump-shots in consecutive possessions and by playing staunch defense. MTSU would make another charge to tie the game, this time at 56 with 2:40 left in the game.
The Panthers would score on a layup before the Blue Raiders would take a 59-58 lead off a Kortni Jones three-point shot. FIU would step up the defense to force the Blue Raiders into bad shot opportunities. Free throws by Michelle Gonzalez and Elisa Carey would ice the game for the Panthers, as they would win 62-59.
The Blue Raiders have now lost all four games in which they have trailed at half-time.
The Panthers have now won two consecutive games in SBC play and will look to continue to build off the confidence they have when they travel to Troy to battle the Trojans.
“We weren’t doing well before, but the win against Western Kentucky really helped us for this game. This win will help our confidence.” Mansare said.
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