Head Coach Cindy Russo announced the schedule for the upcoming season on Tuesday. The schedule is one of the toughest in recent memory as the Panthers will go up against four NCAA Tournament teams and eight WNIT teams from last year.
The Panthers will host 15 games on their newly named Lime Court at the U.S. Century Bank Arena. Their regular season home opener will come against Florida Gulf Coast University. The Panthers will look to avenge a 69-45 loss to the Eagles last year in that game. The Eagles were a WNIT team last year and were one of the few teams to successfully diminish the play of All-American senior Jerica Coley. In last year’s matchup, Coley registered a season-low nine points.
“It’s an exciting time for the program as we not only enter our first season in Conference USA, but also are scheduled for a lot of tough non-conference games,” Russo said in a press release via Athletics. “I think this is one of the most difficult schedules we’ve ever had. I’m looking forward to the challenge, and I know the players and staff are excited to take on such a high caliber of competition.”
Like always the Panthers will host two tournaments on their home floor. The first being the 19 th-annual Thanksgiving Classic held from Nov.29 through Dec. 1.That tournament will feature Valparaiso, Montana State and Villanova. From Dec. 28 through Dec. 30 the Panthers will host the FIU Sun & Fun Classic featuring Fairleigh Dickinson, Wake Forest and Florida A&M. The Panthers won two out three games in both tournaments last year.
After the holidays, FIU will kick off its inaugural C-USA season, welcoming Rice to U.S. Century Bank Arena. The other home games against league opponents include East Carolina, North Texas, Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, Marshall and Old Dominion
The Panthers finished last year with a 19-13 record and received a berth into the WNIT for the second consecutive season.
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