MIAMI - A combined 21 second-half points from FIU's Finda Mansare and Michelle Gonzalez, along with 28 free-throw attempts for the Panthers in the second-half, led the FIU Panthers past the visiting Indiana State women's basketball team, 68-47, on Sunday evening in the FIU Thanksgiving Classic championship game inside the U.S. Century Bank Arena in Miami.

Senior Kelsie Cooley led the Sycamores on Sunday, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Junior Brittany Schoen, junior Shannon Thomas and freshman Anna Munn all added eight points each for Indiana State (3-3), while sophomore Taylor Whitley dropped in five. For their efforts over both games of the tournament, Cooley and Whitley were named to all-tournament team.

Indiana State was forced to battle uphill right from the opening tip, as FIU (4-2) began the game on a 9-0 run over the game's first four minutes. ISU first points came from Cooley, who hit a jumper at the 15:52 mark before knocking down a pair of free-throws with 15:20 left in the first half.

At the midway point of the first half, the Panthers pushed their lead to its largest margin of the opening 20 minutes, as a fastbreak layup by Carmen Miloglav gave FIU a 22-11 lead with 10:25 left on the clock.

The Sycamores would chip away at the lead over the remaining 10 minutes, eventually heading into the locker room down just three points, at 30-27.

In the first half, Munn and Thomas led ISU with eight points, while Whitley added five.

Indiana State scored the first five points of the second half to take their first lead of the contest, as Schoen tied up the game with a three-pointer on ISU's first possession before sophomore Moriah Hodge knocked down a jumper in the paint giving ISU a 32-20 lead with 17:56 left in the game.

The lead would be short-lived, however, as FIU would go on a 16-4 run over the game's next eight minutes to regain the lead for good, capping their run on three free-throws from Gonzalez with 9:51 left in the game to give the Panthers a 46-36 lead.

ISU cut the lead back to seven points on a three-pointer by Schoen with 9:41 left in the game to end the FIU run, but the Panthers did not miss a beat, scoring the game's next nine points to take a 55-39 lead with just under seven minutes left.

Free-throws were key on Sunday to lead FIU past ISU, as FIU attempted 28 tries, making 21, compared to ISU's 18 attempts. The Sycamores also went cold from the field in the second half, as ISU shot five-for-30 (16.7%) from the field and hit just two 3-pointers.

For the game, Indiana State shot a season-low 23.1%, on 15-for-65 shooting, while FIU shot 41.7% (20-for-48 from the field).

Indiana State will return to Indiana for their next game, but will stay on the road, as they travel to Indianapolis to face the Butler Bulldogs on Saturday, Dec. 4. The game is set to tip at 1:00 p.m. inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.