Hoop dreams dashed as winning seasons end

The women’s and men’s basketball teams battled it out in the Sun Belt Conference tournament March 10 and March 11 , respectively. The women fell in the semifinals, while the men were defeated in the finals.

Tymell Murphy

For the first time in program history, the men’s basketball team advanced to the Sun Belt Conference tournament finals – but after a heart-stopping game, the Panthers fell to Western Kentucky, 63-65.

The men had a winning season with 18 games in the W column, the fourth-most in school history.

For their play during FIU’s run in the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, sophomore Deric Hill and junior Malik Smith were named to this year’s SBC All-Tournament Team.

Jerica Coley,

The women’s team came up short in the Championship semifinals, falling to top-seeded Middle Tennessee, 68-59.

Jerica Coley, an all-American candidate, scored double-figures in 29-straight games in the 2012-13 season. Coley is one point shy of moving into a tie for second place on the all-time FIU scoring chart with 2,098 career points.

The junior, who leads the nation in scoring with an average of 25.9 points per game, has been named to the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team.

For more on Coley, visit HolyColey.com.