Women’s basketball opens season Nov. 8 at home vs. Florida Gulf Coast

The FIU women’s basketball team opens up the 2013-14 campaign hosting the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Friday at 6 p.m. on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

FIU women’s basketball season and single-game tickets can be purchased by calling the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIUGAME, or by logging on to FIUSports.com.

All students in attendance will receive free food and soda, served in the suites beginning at 5:30 p.m. In addition, students will have an opportunity to win prizes and giveaways from in-game contests. Also, a three-month CrossFit membership will be given away.

FIU finished the 2012-13 campaign with an overall record of 19-13 and a Sun Belt Conference mark of 12-8, as the 12 league victories marked the second-most in program history. Led by the nation’s leading scorer and two-time AP All-American Jerica Coley, the Panthers advanced to the SBC Championship semifinals for the third-straight year and went on to make their second-consecutive Postseason WNIT appearance.

A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Coley enters her senior season with a 30-game, double-figure scoring streak. In 2012-13, Coley notched 23, 20-plus point games, including 12, 30-plus point outings, scoring a career-high 39 points on two occasions. The Capital One Academic All-District ® honoree owns a career scoring average of 21.8 points per game, tied for first all-time at FIU, and is the only player in program history to register 2,000 points, 600 rebounds, 300 assists, and 200 steals in a career.

Coley has scored 2,135 career points, a total which ranks second on the FIU all-time scoring charts. The two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and WBCA All-America All-Region nominee was responsible for 42.9 percent of the Panthers’ points in 2012-13, and has scored 35.1 percent of FIU’s total points for her career. In May 2013, Coley was named SBC Female Athlete of the Year, becoming just the second FIU student-athlete to earn the league’s top honor.

The Eagles come to Miami voted the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Sun Conference, as voted by the coaches and media. FGCU is led by Sarah Hansen, who returns for her senior year and was voted last year’s Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, as well as being selected as the preseason favorite this year as well. FGCU finished last season with a 27-7 overall record with a perfect 18-0 mark in conference play. Overall, the Eagles have a 4-0 all-time advantage over FIU.

– Courtesy of FIUSports.com