Temple University Athletics
Women's Basketball Stumbles Against Florida International, 80-55
12.29.99 | Women's Basketball
Miami, Fla. - The Temple women's basketball team lost to Florida International, 80-55, tonight, in the first round of the Florida International Fun and Sun Classic. The Owls were led by senior Kim Martin (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) who came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points. The 5-11 forward shot 7-for-8 from the floor including two three-pointers. Sophomore Melissa Eagles (Providence, R.I./The Wheeler School) added 11 points and had a game-high four steals.
Florida International got off to a quick start by going on a 9-0 scoring run to begin the game. The Owls would cut the lead to six with 11:57 remaining in the first half but would get no closer as the Golden Panthers would lead by as many as 21 in the first half before taking a 41-25 halftime lead. Florida International shot a sizzling 72 percent on 18-for-25 shooting from the field in the first half.
In the second half, FIU built its lead to 26 points before the Owls started to chip away. Temple cut the lead to 71-55 with 4:19 remaining. However, the Owls would go scoreless for the remainder of the game and lose the contest, 80-55.
Florida International was led by forward Viktoria Nagy who scored 23 points for the Golden Panthers. Gergana Slavtcheva had 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for FIU.
The loss dropped the Owls to 4-6 on the season. Florida International improved to 3-4. Temple will face St. John's in the consolation game of the Fun and Sun Classic tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. FIU will play in the championship game against Florida State at 6:30 p.m.
