On Thursday night, at the FMU Wellness Center, The Lady Lions of Florida Memorial defeated cross town opponent Florida National University, 96-78.

Thursday night was a special night for the Lady Lions of Florida Memorial University (13-6, 7-2 TSC) as they honored Ms. Zefonic (Ms. Z) Dobynes as the "Honorary Coach" for the game. The Lady Lions were asked to nominate someone that went out of their way to be a difference maker in their lives and they chose academic advisor and faculty member, Ms. Z. She participated in pregame rituals, she was introduced at pregame, she participated in the halftime meeting, and sat on the bench for the game. The smile on her face could be seen all around the arena as she was beaming with PRIDE.

The Conquistadors of Florida National University started out strong on defense keeping the Lady Lions to only 15 points in the first quarter. The score after the first quarter of play was, 15-21 in favor of FNU. Coach Stanback and the Lady Lions made some adjustments and they quickly went back to work in the second quarter. as a result of the adjustments, the Lady Lions erupted on offense and scored 27 points. At the half, the Lady Lions were up by 3 points, 42-39. 

In the second half, the Lady Lions looked a lot more cohesive as a unit on offense. They scored 33 points in the third quarter on 55% shooting from the field and 50% shooting from behind the 3-point arc. On defense they held the Conquistadors to only 16 points and built a commanding lead that they took into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Lions continued their shooting excellence as they closed out FNU and captured the victory, 96-77. The Lady Lions improved their season record to 13-6. They were led by Brittany Howard with 20 points while only playing ten minutes. Another impressive Lady Lion was Nashley Zayas, she played only nine minutes and yet scored 14 points. "At practice this week, I could tell that Nashley was ready to be a difference maker for us", said Coach Stanback. "Her attitude proved to me that she would be ready when her number was called, and she did just that."

The Lady Lions will travel just a few blocks from campus as they take on St. Thomas University on Saturday, Jan. 19th, at 2:00 p.m., at St. Thomas University.