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MIAMI, Fla. – Katherine Smith's (Fort Wayne, Ind.) three-pointer at the buzzer did not get the friendly roll and the UMass Lowell (1-6) women's basketball team fell to the Florida International Panthers (2-4), 71-68, Friday evening at the FIU Arena.

"I think the biggest thing is that we didn't take care of the ball down the stretch," said Head Coach Jenerrie Harris. "We were up three with two minutes to go, and after they cut it to one we had a chance to make it a three or four point game. Instead of capitalizing, we turned the ball over and they hit a layup, as a result it's under 30 seconds left and we're just looking to foul. This team is maturing with every single game and every road game is going to be tough, so I thought they did a good job of playing hard but we still have to be better down the stretch."

The Panthers' Tianah Alvarado was at the line to ice the win with six seconds left, but could only hit one and Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) grabbed the rebound and sent the ball to Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) who drove and found Smith all alone on the wing.

The River Hawks began the fourth trailing 55-53, and scored consecutive baskets, with Nicole Riddick (Albany, N.Y.) giving the visitors' their first lead since the first quarter at 57-55. Mitchell-Owens hit one free throw to give UMass Lowell its largest lead of the game, 64-60, with 3:39 left in regulation.

Lindsey Doucette (Hopkinton, Mass.) recorded her second double-double in three games, scoring 19 points and grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds She scored 10 of the 16 River Hawk first quarter points, and also recorded five rebounds in the opening period. FIU hit seven long balls in the opening 10 minutes to take a 27-16 lead into the second.

Gibbs recorded her third double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 20 points and snagged 10 boards. Mitchell-Owens ended the night with 12 points and four assists.

Trailing 33-24 in the second quarter after Nicole Riddick (Albany, N.Y.) scored the last four UMass Lowell points, the visitors' defense began to stand tough, causing four Panther turnovers in a 1:37 span. The fourth turnover was a product of the tough press the River Hawks began to apply, leading to a Doucette lay-in to trim the deficit to 33-28 with 5:15 on the clock.

Over the next few minutes Florida International built its lead back up to 36-30, but two points from Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) and a three-pointer from the water for Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) brought the River Hawks back to 36-35 with 1:58 remaining in the half.

Gibbs scored the last bucket of the first half with 43 seconds on the clock to knot up the game at 38-38. FIU's Taylor Shade had a chance to give the hosts an advantage at half, but Melissa Frase (Tamworth, N.H.) came up with a nifty strip block to prevent the basket.

UMass Lowell scored the first basket of the second half to hold its first lead since the first, and opened up a 6-2 run for a 44-40 lead. The Panthers took a 53-48 and suffered a scoring drought of 3:03 to allow the River Hawks to tie it up at 53-53 with 1:05 on the clock. FIU got back on the scoreboard with two free throws with only a couple seconds remaining to hold a 55-53 advantage into the final quarter.

The River Hawks held a 66-63 lead in the fourth, before FIU closed the game on a 8-2 run. Janka Hegedus led the Panther offense with 17 points, with Alvarado and Kristian Hudson scoring 16 and 15, respectively.

UMass Lowell continues its tour of South Florida, taking on the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday, December 6, at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 on WatchEspn.com