Panthers routed by FGCU for second-consecutive season

By Steven Rowell/Staff Writer

After a jump shot by FIU’s sophomore guard Taylor Shade tied the game at 17 with 7:52 in the first half; it all went south for the Panthers.

FIU went cold missing 10 of their next 11 shots as Florida Gulf Coast went on a 19-2 run to turn a close game into a rout by halftime with the score 36-19 in favor of the Eagles.

“Our defense wasn’t great; we let them score like every time. I felt every time they drove we either fouled or they scored. Our offense was here and there a little stagnant, we were missing shots, and got some turnovers and we need to work on our defense a lot,” senior guard Jerica Coley said.

After the halftime, the Eagles never looked back as Florida Gulf Coast cruised to a 75-55 victory over FIU at the U.S. Century Bank Arena on Friday Nov. 8.

FIU was shorthanded as senior center Marita Davydova was not in uniform as Head Coach Cindy Russo called it a coach’s decision for her not to play. Her status still remains uncertain for the next game.

Her absence was missed as Florida Gulf Coast’s sophomore guard Whitney Knight who stands at 6-foot-3 torched FIU as Knight poured in 25 points. The sophomore made her return as she missed all of last season from a torn ACL.

The Eagles, known for being an excellent three-point shooting team, only shot 4-15 from beyond the arc, but against the Panthers the damage was done in the paint. FGCU got dribble penetration at will and scored 46 points in the paint and constantly getting to the free throw line going 19-32 at the charity stripe.

FIU was plagued by lack of experience. It showed with 20 turnovers that turned into 30 points for Florida Gulf Coast. FIU was unable to get much penetration or production inside as the Panthers were held to 8 points in the paint for the game.

“We are playing a lot of players that never played before against a really nice team, we really only had two people out there that had any experience whatsoever in college basketball,” Russo said. “I don’t think we played smart, nobody did particularly, we turned the ball over too much, but they are just a tough team to play against.”

Coley had a rough night finding her shot as the senior shot 7-23 and scored 17 points on the night.

The one bright spot for FIU was Shade. The sophomore tallied 18 points, a career high and was the main one able to penetrate the Eagles defense at times. The sophomore played a career high 36 minutes, shot 5-12 including 3-6 from three-point land.

FIU hits the road for its next three games beginning with a trip to Orlando to take on UCF on Nov. 15.