Post by FIUVoice on Mar 5, 2008 22:59:41 GMT -5
Monika Bosilj led four Golden Panthers in double figures with a game-high 25 points to lead FIU to a 68-57 win over Denver in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament Wednesday evening at Pharmed Arena.
The Golden Panthers (13-17) snapped a four-game losing skid and advance to face No. 2 seed UALR in the Quarterfinals on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern). All games from the quarterfinals on will be held at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. FIU and the Trojans split a pair of meetings during the regular season.
Bosilj shot 9-of-14 from the floor for the game and had 14 of her points in the first half. Iva Ciglar scored 16 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Fanni Hutlassa added 12 points while Jasmine Jenkins had 11. Jenkins and Asha Neal each had a team-high eight boards.
Alisha Godette led the Pioneers (11-19) with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Nnenna Akotaobi chipped in with 13 points while Sara Benham added 10. Sara Bents just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
Denver jumped out to a 6-2 lead over the first three minutes of the contest, capped off by an Andie Mason trey. FIU came back to take the lead, 9-8, on a Bosilj jumper at the 13:56 mark. The Pioneers briefly held the lead again on a Godette layup to make it 15-14 with 10:32 remaining, but Bosilj hit a trey on the other end to put the Golden Panthers ahead for the remainder of the half. That three-pointer was the start of a 23-8 FIU run to close the half, making it 35-23 at the break.
Bosilj hit a jumper to start the second half and give the Golden Panthers its largest lead of the game, 37-23 with 19:38 to go. Denver came storming back, however, answering with a 19-2 run to retake the lead, 41-39, after a Bents bucket at the 12:11 mark. Hutlassa drained a three with 7:09 remaining to cap off a 12-5 FIU run to put the hosts back up by six, 51-45. The Pioneers would cut the lead down to one on two occasions, the first after a Celena Otero three made it 51-50 with 6:08 to go, and then on an Akotaobi jumper made it 53-52 with 3:52 remaining.
The Golden Panthers went on an 8-0 run from there over the next 2:45 with four points each coming from Ciglar and Jenkins. The lead grew to 11 at the end of the game following three free throws from Bosilj with 17 seconds left.
courtesy: FIUsports.com
The Golden Panthers (13-17) snapped a four-game losing skid and advance to face No. 2 seed UALR in the Quarterfinals on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern). All games from the quarterfinals on will be held at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. FIU and the Trojans split a pair of meetings during the regular season.
Bosilj shot 9-of-14 from the floor for the game and had 14 of her points in the first half. Iva Ciglar scored 16 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Fanni Hutlassa added 12 points while Jasmine Jenkins had 11. Jenkins and Asha Neal each had a team-high eight boards.
Alisha Godette led the Pioneers (11-19) with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Nnenna Akotaobi chipped in with 13 points while Sara Benham added 10. Sara Bents just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
Denver jumped out to a 6-2 lead over the first three minutes of the contest, capped off by an Andie Mason trey. FIU came back to take the lead, 9-8, on a Bosilj jumper at the 13:56 mark. The Pioneers briefly held the lead again on a Godette layup to make it 15-14 with 10:32 remaining, but Bosilj hit a trey on the other end to put the Golden Panthers ahead for the remainder of the half. That three-pointer was the start of a 23-8 FIU run to close the half, making it 35-23 at the break.
Bosilj hit a jumper to start the second half and give the Golden Panthers its largest lead of the game, 37-23 with 19:38 to go. Denver came storming back, however, answering with a 19-2 run to retake the lead, 41-39, after a Bents bucket at the 12:11 mark. Hutlassa drained a three with 7:09 remaining to cap off a 12-5 FIU run to put the hosts back up by six, 51-45. The Pioneers would cut the lead down to one on two occasions, the first after a Celena Otero three made it 51-50 with 6:08 to go, and then on an Akotaobi jumper made it 53-52 with 3:52 remaining.
The Golden Panthers went on an 8-0 run from there over the next 2:45 with four points each coming from Ciglar and Jenkins. The lead grew to 11 at the end of the game following three free throws from Bosilj with 17 seconds left.
courtesy: FIUsports.com
