Panthers beat Marshall, end losing streak

By Steven Rowell/Staff Wirter

FIU’s losing streak came to a halt at four games after holding off the Marshall University Thundering Herd 77-66 on Feb. 22 at the Lime Court.

The Panthers improved to 12-14 and 6-7 in Conference USA. Senior guard Jerica Coley had a double-double by halftime as the senior went into intermission with 23 points and 12 rebounds before finishing the contest with 35 points and a career-high of 15 rebounds. That marked double-double number six for Coley this season.

With the zone defense of Marshall constantly trapping Coley, FIU’s ball movement attacking the gaps of the zone constantly resulted in open shots for players such as junior guard Zsofia Labady, junior forward Arielle Durant, and sophomore guard Taylor Shade. While Labady and Durant struggled to knock the open looks they got, going 2-14 combined, Shade capitalized shooting 6-14 and finishing with 17 points including two consecutive three-pointers midway through the second half.

“First half we missed a lot of good open shots, but the second half we made a few more and that was a big deal,” Coley said.

Junior forward Tynia McKinzie provided a couple of key lay-ups down the stretch to keep FIU ahead and finished with 10 points.

Marshall ranking near the bottom in C-USA in rebounding, FIU exploited that and had their way on the offensive boards converting 20 second chance points and grabbing 19 offensive rebounds especially in the first half where at times it seemed like FIU was getting offensive rebounds on virtually every possession.

“That was a big deal we always talk about trying to get a lot of rebounds and the last two games I think we got outrebounded so coach really stressed about it so we wanted to come out and make sure we got on the boards,” Coley said.

While Marshall sits last in the Conference at 2-11 in C-USA, the Thundering Herd didn’t look like it. Marshall came in as one of the worst teams in C-USA in field goal percentage at .368 and points per game at 61.9. For the game, Marshall shot 43.6 percent and kept the game close throughout.

“That is a good team, they haven’t won a lot but they always play people like that, it was hard fought I think we did a nice job down the stretch and played some better defense,” Head Coach Cindy Russo said.

Junior guard Leah Scott contributed with 13 points, senior forward Suporia Dickens with 16 points including 4-6 from long range, and freshman forward Chelsey Romero who had her way in the second half in the paint en route to 21 points before fouling out.

For the whole game FIU led and never really got much separation and at the same time Marshall never would come all the way back but only coming within two points several times in the second half. FIU did go on a 9-1 run late to claim the first double-digit lead of the game at the 3:32 mark making the score 68-58.

Next up for the Panthers: a trip to Charlotte, N.C. to take on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Feb. 26. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

-steven.rowell@fiusm.com