Head coach Mona Martin came into Thursday night’s game against Florida International seeking her 250th career win as a head coach and the team’s eighth win of the season. Her team never trailed throughout the game as they went on to win by a double-digit margin, 64-53.

“Tonight was the first night I felt like we played forty minutes together,” Martin said. “We never quit. We never gave up. We didn’t get down on ourselves. We just played hard.”

Neither team shot the basketball exceptionally well in the first half as FIU (17-11, 11-8) shot 27 percent and ULM (8-20, 6-13) 32 percent. Jae Shin showed her long range capabilities hitting two big three-point shots midway through the half to help extend the ULM lead.

The Warhawks played with a defensive tenacity that has rarely been seen this year. They held the Panthers to only 22 points in the first half.

ULM won the battle under the boards totaling 46 rebounds, four more than the Panthers’ 42 rebounds. Junior Ashleigh Simmons was a dominant presence of the night. She led the game with 12 total rebounds.

The Warhawks tightened up their shot selection in the second half as they outscored FIU in the paint.

“Our post defense was phenomenal,” Martin said. “We held their post players to only four points and they were averaging almost 15 together.”

To go along with their brilliant post play, the Warhawks capitalized on their opportunities from the free throw line as well. They shot a respectable 74 percent.

Simmons also led ULM in scoring with 17 points. She was followed by fellow junior Jasmine Shaw who poured in 11 points.

Florida International featured the nation’s leading scorer, Jerica Coley. ULM held her just under her season average of 26 PPG, as she scored 25.

“Elexar Tugler played great defense on number 22(Coley),” Martin said.

The Panthers made a second half push behind Coley-16 points-but were not allowed to gain momentum for any period of time. ULM’s second half defensive pressure was simply too much for FIU.