Coley, upset minded Panthers take down Tulane

Javier Cortez, Staff Reporter • March 13, 2014

The Florida International Golden Panthers women’s basketball pulled off another upset as they defeated the No. 4 seed Tulane Green Wave 69-55 at Memorial Gym to advance to the semifinals.

FIU took the lead with 10 minutes left in the first half and never looked back, Tulane trailed the rest of the game and was outscored 35-29 in the second half.

The nation’s leading scorer senior guard Jerica Coley was the game’s top performer with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Coley led the Golden Panthers all game and made crucial baskets to seal the game for FIU and scored 21 of her 34 points in the second half.

To go along with Coley, junior forward Tynia McKinzie chipped in with a double-double and sophomore guard Taylor Shade had 13 points for the Golden Panthers.

Junior forward Tiffany Dale led the Green Wave with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Tulane now ends their season with a 20-10 record and are the highest seed to be eliminated from the women’s bracket.

The Golden Panthers move to 15-17 on the year and will play No.1 seed Middle Tennessee in the semifinals tomorrow morning at the Don Haskins Center at 9 a.m.

Javier Cortez may be reached at [email protected].

About the Contributor

Javier Cortez, Staff Reporter

Javier Cortez is a staff reporter for The Prospector. He is a senior multimedia journalism major, with a minor in English Rhetoric. Javier was born and raised in El Paso, TX and before coming to UTEP in the summer of 2012, he graduated from Irvin High School, where he was a four-year varsity tennis player, a member of student council and a class officer for his graduating class. He has also worked for the El Paso Diablos as a sports information intern on their media relations team. In his spare time, Javier loves to write columns for the perspectives section in the school newspaper—whether it is sports, pop culture, religion, and society he loves to write about it. To go along with writing, Javier loves reading anything about sports, religion, and non-fiction.