By Steven Rowell/Staff Writer
After a slow start to the season, the Panthers now find themselves on a season high three game winning streak. In the Gator Holiday Classic, FIU cruised to an 84-58 victory over La Salle Explorers on Friday Dec. 20 to improve to 4-5 on the season. The 84 points is the highest output of the season.
FIU trailed early in the game 7-2 before a 16-2 run gave FIU the lead as the Panthers opened up an 18-9 lead. The Panthers would never trail for the rest of the contest. FIU went into the intermission with a 46-28 lead. In the second half the closest La Salle would cut into the deficit was when they opened the second half with a 9-4 run and found them only trailing 50-37 with 15:31 remaining but ultimately La Salle could not fully recover.
Senior guard Jerica Coley led the way for the Panthers with 33 points on 10-27 shooting and shot 12-13 at the charity stripe. Coley also had plenty of help as three other players reached double figures in scoring for FIU.
Junior forward Tynia Mckinzie chimed in a career high of 15 points and also grabbed 7 rebounds on 7-11 shooting. Sophomore Guard Taylor Shade had her second straight game with double figures as the sophomore registered 15 points and shot 3-4 from three-point range. Junior forward Kamika Idom added 11 points with all of them coming from the free-throw line. This is the 3rd time Idom reaches double figures as she made her 5th appearance since returning from a torn ACL suffered last season.
For the Explorers, freshman forward Micahya Owens, and junior guard Alicia Cropper led the way with 13 points each. For FIU, they will get a chance at revenge from last year as they will next face the Florida Gators on Saturday in the Championship of the Gator Holiday Classic. Florida is on a four game winning streak and stands at 7-3 coming off a win in the Gator Holiday Classic over Tennessee State. Florida was the team that ended FIU’s season last year defeating the Panthers in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
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