FIU women’s basketball roster is 10 strong, and that’s the way they like it

For the sake of contrast, consider that Barry has 19 women on its basketball roster.

FIU has 10.

Not that Panthers coach Jesyka Burks-Wiley is concerned. She inherited a 6-23 team in the summer of 2020. In her first two years coaching the Panthers, FIU has gone 15-13 and then 15-16, both with 12-player rosters.

Now the Panthers promise to have an even closer bond as every player will have a vital role.

“I think it’s our chemistry,” FIU shooting guard Olivia Trice said when asked to describe the difference between last season and the upcoming campaign. “Some people may look at the roster and see only 10 players, but we are so tight-knit. We’ve grown our relationships with our coaches …

“We’re not worried about it -- only five people can be on the court at the same time.”

Even so, the Panthers have to replace their top two players from last season: Ariel Colon and Kyla Nelson, who both made All-Conference-USA honorable mention. They combined to average 24.9 points per game.

Burks-Wiley, who preaches an up-tempo style on offense and defense, has added two Division I transfers: 5-9 guard Kaliah Henderson and 5-6 guard Mihaela Lazic.

Henderson played 55 games – including 22 starts – at St. Joseph’s the past three years. She scored a career-high 11.4 points in the 2020-2021 season. Last season, she averaged 10.2 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Lazic, who could emerge as FIU’s point guard, averaged 1.2 points in 14 games last season for USF. She averaged 21.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 2018-2019 in Croatia.

FIU also added two junior-college transfers Ajae Yoakum, a 6-0 forward from Portland; and Sariana Rodriguez-Camacho, a 6-1 shooting guard from Florida Southwestern State. Rodriguez-Camacho comes in with a reputation as a shooter with range.

Among FIU’s returners, 5-6 guard Tanajah Hayes leads the way. She was FIU’s third-leading scorer last season (9.3).

Also back are 5-9 guard Zaida Gonzalez, who made 25 starts and averaged 5.4 points last season; and 6-1 forward Maria Torres, who made 19 starts, averaging 3.8 points. Torres, though, showed up at FIU’s Hoopla event last week in an ankle boot, which could be a key injury if it lingers.

Other options include Trice (seven starts, 3.4 average); 6-3 center Hope Butera (two starts, 2.1 average); and 5-11 true freshman guard Sifa Joyeuse, who is from Georgia.

Trice said she sees Butera as the most improved player from last season.

“She’s come back with confidence,” Trice said. “I’m excited for her.”

Burks-Wiley, whose team will start its season on Nov. 9 with a home game against North Carolina Central, said her smaller roster size is by design. NCAA Division I women’s basketball teams are allowed to have up to 15 scholarship players on their rosters.

“We don’t say ‘only’ 10,” Burks-Wiley said. “We have 10.

“Our kids have done an incredible job of buying into that. We want to make sure we have quality over quantity.”