For the first time as a Conference USA member, FIU women's basketball has landed a student-athlete on the league's Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week lists in the same week.
Sophomore Kristia Hudson (Birmingham, Alabama) was named Co-Player of the Week and freshman Alexis Gordon (Palm Bay, Florida / Covenant Christian) was named the league's Freshman of the Week, in a vote chosen from a panel representing all 14 member schools.
Hudson hit a 33-foot buzzer-beater to give FIU the 88-87 victory in its first-ever triple-overtime game Thursday against UTEP. She broke the school record by playing in all 55 minutes and during the game, hit her 19-consecutive free throw, another school record, in a run lasting four games.
The victory, which gave FIU its second-straight at home for the first time since 2013, also put the Panthers into a 2-0 home start, never before accomplished as a C-USA member school.
Gordon played a career-high 52 minutes after scoring 15 points in Thursday's UTEP win. She scored six points in 31 minutes in the Saturday home loss to UTSA. Gordon leads FIU and is third in C-USA in three-point percentage (.383) and fourth in three-pointers made per game (2.4). She shot .500 in both games for the week from beyond the arc for the Panthers, who are fourth in the league in long-range percentage (.332) this season. This is Gordon's second Freshman of the Week honor, having previously won on November 28. She is the first two-time winner of Freshman of the Week in the same season since Kiandre’a Pound in 2015 won the award six times.