FIU women start strong, but can’t close in loss to Arizona

The combination of redshirt freshman forward Kiandre’a Pound and junior guard Taylor Shade scoring with Pound and senior Marita Davydova rebounding put FIU’s women’s basketball team 9:50 from their first win Friday.

In that time, the scoring stopped, the rebounding stopped and the defense couldn’t stop anybody. The disintegration allowed Arizona (2-2) to beat FIU (0-4) 65-58 in the first game of the FIU Thanksgiving Classic.

“It was frustration, but I think it was encouragement,” Pound said of the team’s mood after the game. “I think, each game, we’re playing better and better. Arizona’s a Pac-12 school. So for us to be that close is good. We just need a little more.”

Pound finished the night with a game-high 25 points on nine of 18 shooting and had 13 rebounds, second in the game to Davydova’s 15. Shade scored 17 with three assists and two steals. Arizona’s fifth-year senior point guard Candice Warthen dropped in 18 points with seven assists.

A Dejza James layup off an intentional dish from Warthen and another off an unintentional dish (airball) erased FIU’s last lead and put Arizona ahead 50-47. FIU tied the game at 52 but the Wildcats countered with a 13-4 run over the last seven minutes.

“We don’t know how to hold,” FIU coach Cindy Russo said. “I think we just gave it back to them on a silver platter. They got offensive rebounds, we stopped rebounding. We didn’t stay together as a team. It didn’t look like wanted it as much at the end.”

This story was originally published November 28, 2014 at 7:00 AM with the headline "FIU women start strong, but can’t close in loss to Arizona."