FIU Hands North Texas An L On STEM Education Day

Jared Parker/Staff Writer

On STEM education day, FIU Women’s basketball was able to pull out a win against North Texas in front of over 2000 elementary schoolers from the area. 

Deedee Diane led her team in scoring with 20 points on 53% shooting. Diane knocked down 4 triples, one of which came in the last minute to propel FIU to victory.

The Panthers got off to a hot start, leading 20-4 at one point, however, the Eagles fought back and took a 5-point lead in the third quarter. North Texas switching to a full-court press in the second quarter helped them slow down Diane and the Panthers offense. 

The full-court press allowed Center, Chelsea Guimaraes to catch fire, who scored all 12 of her points in the second half and sank two three-pointers. Diane said “she was dominating” when asked about Guimaraes second half performance.

The Panthers large crowd, with guests coming from local elementary schools benefitted FIU. The Panthers defense held North Texas to 12.4%  shooting in the first quarter. The crowd showed their support which led to North Texas missing some crucial late game shots.

As a team, FIU shot an excellent 42.1% from deep, which made up for their 37.7% shooting, but committed 17 turnovers, an issue  that plagued them in the second half. 

Aside from Diane and Guimaraes, the Panthers had several key contributors to this game. Shante Walkers snagged 10 rebounds. Bre’Osha Scott had 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Fujika Nimmo had 7 points with a late game 3 to help her team. Cheyanne Daniels, though scoreless, had 2 blocks, one of them being a clutch late game stop. Finally, Jiselle Thomas who had 7 points and 6 rebounds, and several ankle-breaking crossovers that got the crowd excited. 

Despite the late game surge from North Texas, the Panthers held on to win 58-56.

This is FIU’s first conference win, which makes them 4-10 and third from bottom in C-USA. If FIU has any hope for this season, this gives them momentum going into their next game, where they host Rice January 11th at 2 PM.