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Sunday, December 29, 2002
Shafer pours in 30 as FIU
tops Ole Miss to win 18th Annual Sun & Fun Classic
 andy
Shafer poured in 30 points and Cormisha Cotton pulled down a
career-high 19 rebounds as the Florida International women's
basketball team defeated Mississippi, 76-68, Sunday afternoon
in the title game of the Sun & Fun Classic at Golden Panther
Arena in Miami. Shafer was named the tournament's MVP while Cotton,
FIU's Dace Cinite, Ole Miss' Genice Terry joined her on the all-tournament
team.
Shafer made 11-of-13 field goal attempts, including a quartet
of three-pointers and all four of her free-throw attempts, en
rout to her highest scoring total of the season.
The game belonged to FIU from its first possession as the
Golden Panthers jumped out to a 17-5 lead - including eight points
from Shafer - in the first eight minutes of play. Ole Miss battled
back in the game and cut FIU's lead to three at 26-23 with 4:15
in the half. The team's played evenly the remainder of the first
stanza and FIU entered the locker room with a 34-29 halftime
advantage.
The Golden Panthers used a 14-4 outburst to open the second
half that saw Shafer connect on three treys and Ivelina Vrancheva
make her second three-pointer of the game. Ole Miss refused to
back down, however, and continued to peck away at the lead. FIU
was solid from the charity stripe in the closing minutes, making
12-of-15 free-throw attempts in the final 1:38 to seal the game.
It was the second time in her career that Shafer reached the
30-point mark. She scored 31 points vs. Youngstown State on Nov.
25, 2000.
The win improved FIU to 9-3 on the year and was the team's
seventh victory in eight games. The Golden Panthers have now
won the Sun & Fun Classic 10 times in the 18 year-history
of the tournament.
Ole Miss is now 9-2.
In the consolation game, Evita Rogers had 24 points as Georgia
State defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 58-55. Rogers and
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Kristin Rogers were also on the
All-Sun & Fun Classic Team.
FIU closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule
when it hosts Siena on Wed., Jan. 1 at 2:00 p.m. in Golden Panther
Arena. |