MIAMI (Dec. 30, 2015) – The FIU Athletic Department will honor former FIU Women's Basketball Head Coach Cindy Russo during the Panthers' game versus the Rice Owls on Saturday, Feb. 20. Game time from Lime Court at FIU Arena is set for 12 p.m. ET.
 
Former players, staff members and administrators are invited to attend the Feb. 20 contest as FIU will honor one of the NCAA's winningest coaches at halftime followed by a post-game reception.

To RSVP please contact Carla M. Garcia by email at carla.garcia@fiu.edu.
 
Those unable to attend are encouraged to send photos and notes to:
 
Carla M. Garcia
11200 SW 8th Street, FIU Arena 159
Miami, FL 33199
 
Russo was the driving force behind the women's basketball team for 36 of the program's 41 years. Over that time, she has guided FIU to 22-consecutive winning seasons (1981-2003) and at least 20 victories on 18 occasions. Russo has led her teams to six NCAA Division I Tournament berths, seven Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournaments (WNIT), three NCAA Division II Tournaments and three AIAW Small College National Tournaments, in addition to winning eight regular season conference titles and seven tournament crowns. She has been recognized as conference coach of the year seven times in three different leagues and has coached seven All-Americans including Jerica Coley, who finished her FIU career with 3,107 points (fifth all-time in NCAA history). Russo has the 14^th-most wins in Division I women's basketball history and owns a career record of 707-408 (.634) over 38 seasons, and a record of 667-386 (.633) in 36 seasons at FIU.
 
Russo began her coaching career at FIU in 1977 before spending two seasons at Lamar (1978-79; 1979-80) where she went 40-22. A native of Portsmouth, Va., Russo returned to FIU for the 1980-81 season.  

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Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWBB) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWBasketball) for all the latest FIU women's basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
 
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
 About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.