Panthers Defeat Blue Raiders for First Time Since 2022

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MIAMI, FL – History hasn’t been kind for FIU against Middle Tennessee. They had only beaten the Blue Raiders 10 times in program history.

FIU went on a 20-4 3rd quarter run to start what was the beginning of a comeback. The Panthers ultimately defeated the Blue Raiders 60-58, marking the first time they had achieved this victory since 2022.

A long time coming 👏 pic.twitter.com/DDXTUEuQWk

— FIU Women’s Basketball (@FIUWBB) February 7, 2026

“I told the girl’s on Thursday, I thought that was probably one of our most aggressive wins, just on both sides of the ball,” said Jesyka Burks-Wiley. “Today by far, I think, was out toughest. Middle…obviously just a historical program.”

“I was joking in practice, “oh, she’s a first year”, and I was like I don’t care what year they are. That’s a historically traditionally successful program and those kids are playing hard and they’re playing well.”

“It’s a reason they’re at the top of the league and consistently at the top of the league. That’s culture, so for us to come in and be able to go head up and figure it out big time, I couldn’t be more proud of our kids.”

Shakey Start for Panthers

The first quarter was a defensive battle for both teams, with FIU scoring 14 points while MTSU had 10 points. Then, shots started clicking in Middle Tennessee’s favor during the second quarter.

They had an even 50% split in their total shots and when attempting three-pointers. The Panthers found themselves in a 34-24 rut at halftime.

“Biggest thing I challenged them with was, one, going in I took my ego away because I was very frustrated,” said Coach Wiley-Burks. “Cause I felt like in some situations we were just laying down. And so, I took my ego away and just went in to let them know that I don’t think we played our toughest half and it’s still very much a ballgame. But the second half is gonna take a next level of grit.”

“That type of grit we’re gonna have to maintain not just in this game but for the rest of the season, going into second rounds of games. And that was my challenge to them. They’re not gonna let up. They’re used to running through the league. They’re used to going to other people’s home court and getting wins.”

“It’s our job now to protect our home and be able to make a statement win. Our kids, I thought, just responded incredibly well.”

20-6 Run Marks Start of Comeback

FIU went back to square one with their defense in the third quarter, and it worked. The Blue Raiders shot for 28.6% and were limited to 11 points.

The offense for FIU started to come alive three minutes past the quarter’s tipoff. It eventually ended up being a 20-6 run for the ladies in Panther jerseys. The game was tied at 45 apiece to end the quarter.

Grecia Ferrer Leal splashed two three-pointers during that time in what eventually showed to be her best performance of the season. She scored 10 points during that run.

“We just had to increase our pressure. I thought we did a good job of it first quarter and second quarter we just completely took our foot off the gas with that,” said Jesyka Burks-Wiley.

“Like I said, Middle’s a great program. For us, it was like hey, they’re in too much of a rhythm right now. The game’s a bit too smooth. We’ve got to find a way to break some of these possessions and make them speed up. So, we went to our 12, our kids did a great job of giving us time to squeeze.”

“Being able to increase that pressure, especially in the backcourt, close to our basket, shorten those possessions allow us to build some baskets quickly. I think was a big difference there.”

Both Middle Tennessee and FIU played aggressive defense while trading limited baskets for the majority of the fourth quarter. However, MTSU pulled ahead with a significant 54-50 lead at 3:31.

FIU didn’t panic, though, and quickly scored six unanswered points to take a 56-54 lead at 1:44. They didn’t squander time on the clock when points were needed and finished with the upper hand.

Fouls and Turnovers

Today’s game was won based on FIU’s ability draw trips to the charity stripe and force MTSU to commit turnovers at a higher rate.

The Blue Raiders committed a total of 25 fouls in the game. They were impacted the most in the second and third quarters, where they combined for 16 of them. Nine of those came in the third quarter.

FIU took advantage, making 79% (22/28) of their free throw shots.

The Blue Raiders just couldn’t catch a break with the turnovers, having nine of them in the opening quarter alone. It was an unfixable problem for them as they finished the game with a total of 25.

FIU again took advantage by scoring 22 total points off turnovers.

Final
Middle Tennessee 58 | FIU 60

The difference in turnovers this game was critical and proved to be a difference in FIU's victory#FIU | #Panthers | #PawsUp

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) February 7, 2026

Stars on the Court

Ferrer Leal scored 13 points, grabbed eight boards, dished out five assists, and partook in three steal attempts. Parris Atkins finished with 15 points on 9/10 free throw shooting, five rebounds, two assists, and four steals. Rhema Collins finished with 15 points on the score sheet as well, grabbed six rebounds, and had a game-leading three blocks.

Up Next

The Panthers head on a road trip to face the Conference USA-leading Louisiana Tech on February 12 at 7:30 pm before playing Sam Houston on February 14 at 2 pm.

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