Fabio Lopez / Staff Writer
The FIU women’s basketball team will finish their regular season, before the Conference USA Championships in Texas, with a doubleheader against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at home this weekend.
Game one of the doubleheader will start on Friday, February 26th at 7 pm, while game two will be on Saturday, February 27th at 4 pm, where the Panthers will celebrate Senior Day, in which the team commemorates its senior players in their last regular-season game.
The Panthers hold an even 10-10 overall record and are 7-7 in the C-USA. FIU is third out of seven teams in the Eastern Division; and seventh out of 14 teams in the conference, currently the best position in their history.
Western Kentucky is heading into the series with a 6-12 overall record and a 5-7 conference record. They’re currently second-last in the Eastern Division and ninth in the general standings.
For FIU, a win in this series will guarantee them a spot in the C-USA Championship for the first time in 5 years, since the 2015-16 season.
A victory this weekend will also see the Panthers earn over 10 wins in a single season for the first time since their 2013-14 campaign, where they finished 15-18 overall.
Historically, FIU has only faced the Hilltoppers twice and lost on both occasions. Western Kentucky won their first encounter 101-47 in 2018. The teams faced each other again on February 1st, 2020, where FIU lost 71-51.
Guard Jiselle Thomas is one of FIU’s stand-out performers, topping the offensive stats with 322 points scored and an average of 16.1 points per game. Thomas also leads the team in field goals with 126.
Panther guards Kyla Nelson and Fujika Nimmo are not far behind averaging 14.8 and 11.2 points respectively. Nelson has 90 field goals while Nimmo earned 80.
Raquel Ferrer-Bernad tops FIU’s squad with 70 assists this season. On the defense, forward Emerald Ekpiteta leads the team with an average of 9.7 rebounds per game.
Out of the 14 teams in C-USA, Western Kentucky has the 12th worst offense, only averaging 63.3 points per game. They also sit in eighth place when it comes to assists per game, but lead the conference in steals, averaging 8.56 per game.
The Hilltoppers’ forward Raneem Elgedawy averages 22.4 points per game this season, more than double any other player on their team. Guard Hope Sivori also has 66 assists this season, leading all of WKU in the stat.
Both games can be watched on C-USA TV or in person with a 15% capacity.
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