By Ruben Palacios/Sports Director
Photo Credit: Brian Kanof/Conference USA
After rewriting the FIU record books, senior Jerica Coley decided it was time to rearrange the NCAA’s record books as well.
Coley became the 10th player in NCAA Division I history to eclipse the 3,000-point barrier, doing so with a 20-point showing on March 11 in FIU’s 85-65 win over 12th-seeded Rice in the first round of the Conference USA tournament at El Paso, Texas.
Unfortunately for Rice, it got the worst of Coley’s accomplishments this season. In a regular season matchup earlier in the year, Coley became FIU’s all-time leading scorer when she scored 16 points against the Owls.
And in typical Coley fashion, the senior didn’t realize the magnitude of her accomplishment.
“One of my teammates was telling me that I was the 10th to get to that number, so it seems like a pretty big deal if in all the years only 10 people have gotten it so far,” Coley said in an interview with the Associated Press. “I’m sure I’ll think about it more a little later, but just that fact was pretty shocking.”
Coley rested on 3,012 points after the Rice game, but she wouldn’t settle there. In a matchup against heavily favored five-seed East Carolina the next day she netted 42 points. That performance propelled her to become the fifth leading scorer in D-I history. After the 42-point performance, she stood at 3,054 career points.
Coley dished out one of her most efficient scoring performances of the season — if not her career — as she shot 12-of-19 from the field and went 14-of-16 from the free-throw line.
The FIU guard passed USC’s Cheryl Miller who was eighth on the career list at 3,018 points. Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw formerly seventh at 3,025, Connecticut’s Maya Moore who was sixth at 3,036 and Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne who sat at fifth at 3,039.
“I never would have thought that this would have ever come about, and it did,” Coley said. “It’s a great honor to be in the same company with those names.”
Coley, always willing to take the attention off her and credit her teammates, was thankful for the treatment her teammates provided her throughout her career in the limelight.
“I have really good teammates, and they’ve made me feel good about the whole thing for the last three years,” Coley said. “They never made me feel weird. Having them on my team and helping me get to where I am, that’s made the whole experience even more fun.”
Coley and the Panthers (13 seed) continued to upset opponents when they faced off against fourth-seeded Tulane on March 13. Coley scored a team-high 34 points and led the Panthers to the 69-55 upset.
The Panther’s Cinderella run came to an end in the C-USA semifinals against a very familiar foe: Middle Tennessee State University.
FIU, playing in its fourth game in as many days, stood strong with the top-seeded Raiders but ultimately fell 64-57. The Raiders concentrated heavily on Coley and held the senior to just 19 points.
The Panthers have had their conference championship bids taken away by Middle Tennessee in three-consecutive seasons.
“Another typical game. We knew coming in they were going to be a little tired and it shows in some of their shooting. We did a good job on Coley,” Raiders’ coach Rick Insell said in a postgame release. “(FIU) did well, but playing four games in four days has a lot to do with their performance. You have to commend them; Cindy Russo is a tremendous coach. You don’t win 600- something games with luck, and that’s what she’s done in her career as a collegiate coach.”
Russo also spoke after the loss, saying she was proud of the performances her team put up leading to the semifinal matchup and that they did not want their season to end when it did.
“This is always a hard talk to have. We had a great ride and there was a lot of nice basketball these last few days,” Russo said. “For that, we are really proud of ourselves, but we did not want it to end today.”
The ninth-winningest active coach in women’s basketball also commented on her All-American in Coley.
“It is pretty emotional. It is hard to think about life without Jerica (Coley). Not only is she a great ball player and I enjoy watching her as a fan sometimes, but she is just also a great person and a great friend of mine,” Russo said.
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