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Saturday, December 14, 2002
FIU notches third-straight
victory over cross-town rival Miami
 ilvia Mesa scored a career-high 21 points
and Cormisha Cotton added 19 as the Florida International women's
basketball team defeated crosstown-rival Miami, 81-70, Saturday
night at Golden Panther Arena.
The Golden Panthers - who led
most of the game - clung to a two-point advantage with 1:59 remaining
before Mesa converted a three-point play that put FIU ahead,
71-66. UM went on to miss five of its last six field-goal attempts
while FIU connected on 7-of-10 free throws in the final 46 seconds
to secure the victory.
"We came ready to play,"
said FIU head coach Cindy Russo. "It was a really tight
game, but we expect that type of game from them. They are a really
nice team with a lot of good athletes."
The UM press forced 27 turnovers,
the most for FIU this season. However, FIU was more aggressive
on the boards, outrebounding the Hurricanes, 51-28.
The Hurricanes' Tamara James
led all scorers with 24 points.
UM drops to 3-3 on the year while
FIU improves to 5-2. It was the third-straight victory for FIU
in the 27-year old rivalry.
Miami returns home to face Florida
Atlantic on Monday at 7:00 p.m. FIU hosts Charlotte at 7:00 p.m.
on Monday at Miami-Dade CC-Kendall. |