By Steven Rowell/Staff Writer
FIU took down rival Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla. 96-88 for their second straight conference win thanks in large part of two players posting career-highs in points for the Panthers.
Senior guard Jerica Coley finished with 35 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and one steal on 13-19 shooting. Coley got help from sophomore guard Taylor Shade posting a career-high of 26 points and junior guard Kamika Idom also posted a career-high of 15 points.
Shade and Coley combined for 61 points and accounted for 63.4 percent of offense for the Panthers.
FIU took its first lead of the game at the 7:52 mark of the first half after a jump shot by Idom put FIU up 22-21. FAU eventually regained the lead and led 37-36 going into halftime.
The second half saw six lead changes and the score being tied seven different times. With 3:27 left in the game took the lead for good and pulled away with a 10-0 run that the Owls had no answer for.
For the game, the Panthers shot a season-high of 52.9 percent from the floor and the 96 points is the highest point total for the Panthers for this season. The Panthers were on fire in the second half as FIU shot 73.3 percent after the intermission. FIU won the battle on the boards 41-33 over FAU and capitalized on the fast break opportunities with 10 fast break points compared to 4 for FAU.
The Panthers next will travel to take on Tulsa on Saturday Jan. 18 before returning home next week on Wednesday Jan. 22 to host former Sun Belt Conference opponent in North Texas. The Panthers will see the Owls one more time this season when FAU makes its appearance on the Lime Court on Saturday Feb. 1.
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