FIU Women’s Basketball Leaves Thanksgiving Classic Hungry For A Win

Christopher Rodriguez/Staff Writer 

FIU hosted their annual Thanksgiving classic this past weekend as the Panthers came out with two huge losses from Oakland and Northern Kentucky.

FIU put up a good fight against Oakland in the first quarter by consistently scoring and keeping the score even. FIU’s execution in the paint kept them up for most of the quarter, but that was not enough.

FIU only made one out of their 16 three-point attempts the entire game, most of which were very long air balls. FIU shot 31% on the field goal and scored 28 in the paint.

Oakland shot 41% against FIU, most of which came from the under the basket. FIU barely had any protection on the board and the Grizzlies took advantage.

FIU guard Jiselle Thomas put down most of the points on Oakland, dropping a total of 24 points. She and center Chelsea Guimaraes grabbed most of FIU’s rebounds both combining for 18 out of FIU’s 40 total rebounds.

After the loss against Oakland, they hoped to get a win coming into their closing Thanksgiving game against the North Kentucky Norse.

Unfortunately, FIU had underestimated the defense of Northern Kentucky. The Norse put pressure on FIU’s offense preventing them from scoring any consistent points. 

FIU shot 31% from this game and was playing catch up most of the game. The only time the Panthers had the lead was at the start of the game when the score was 3-2. 

The Norse scored 24 points on the paint due to FIU’s late response to guarding under their basket. They were able to putback most of their shots and allowed many plays on the inbound. 

When FIU later caught on by pressing on Northern Kentucky, the Norse responded and started knocking down successful three-pointers and consistent shots off of careful ball movement.

FIU  left the Thanksgiving classic without a win. Leaving them frustrated and desperate for a win. FIU hopes to redeem themselves when they face off at Durham, NC against North Carolina Central Eagles.

Coaches and players were unable to comment.

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