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Saturday, March 1, 2003
Shafer reaches the 1,000-point
mark as she drops in 27 to lead FIU past UALR
 andy
Shafer became the 16th player in school history to reach the
1,000 point mark as she scored a game-high 27 to lead Florida
International past Arkansas-Little Rock, 96-44, on Saturday night
at Golden Panther Arena. The contest marked the final home game
of four seniors for FIU - Shafer, Cormisha Cotton, Anita Heller
and Silvia Mesa.
"It's a nice way to leave," said Shafer, who is
currently 15th all-time in scoring at FIU with 1,004 points.
"It couldn't have come on a better night. It was pretty
special to accomplish this in our gym and in front of my family."
It was a night of fallen records for the Golden Panthers.
The 52-point margin of victory was the largest for FIU in a
league game since joining the Sun Belt Conference in the 1998-99
season. Shafer nailed five three-pointers in the contest and
became the program's single-season three-point record holder
with 60 treys this year. The Golden Panthers recorded a season-high
12 blocked shots, a season-high 15 steals and a season-low seven
turnovers.
Personal marks were also bested, as Heller scored a career-high
21 points, Shafer plucked a career-best six steals and Cotton
swatted six shots to tie her career-high and FIU's single-game
record.
FIU (18-9, 9-5 Sun Belt) came out blazing, making eight of
its first 12 shots, but UALR (5-22, 0-14) hung with the Golden
Panthers, and the teams were tied at 16 with 7:10 left in the
first period. FIU went on a 31-7 run to close out the half and
never looked back.
All four seniors reached double-figures in scoring as Mesa
dropped in 10 and Cotton added 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds
for the 23rd double-double in her career.
UALR was led by Eplunus Brooks' 15 points and nine rebounds.
Next up for FIU is the Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament,
March 6-11, in Bowling Green, Ky. The Golden Panthers will face
Louisiana-Lafayette in the play-in round on Thursday at 9:00
p.m. EST.
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