MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – As the R&B trio Shalamar once sang about "The Second Time Around", Florida Memorial University's women's basketball team made sure that its second matchup with HBCU rival Edward Waters College would be nothing like the first one.
 
Led by Shawnice King's 19 points, the Lady Lions built as large as a 19-point lead and staved off a late rally attempt by Edward Waters en route to a 66-64 victory Saturday afternoon in the FMU Wellness Center.
 
FMU (7-5), which will host Texas Wesleyan University this coming Tuesday, earned a trifecta of accolades with the victory Saturday. The Lady Lions remained undefeated at home, winning their fourth game on their home floor; they handed the Tigers (11-1) their first regular season loss of the season; and they avenged their November 8th loss to Edward Waters.
 
While FMU enjoyed a 19-point lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter, the Tigers showed the resolved expected of a previously undefeated team – chipping away at the Lions' lead over the final 18 minutes, getting as close as one-point twice – 62-61 and 64-63 – with just over four minutes to play in the game.
 
After Brittney Howard pushed FMU's lead to 66-63 with just over two minutes to play, the Tigers missed multiple opportunities to pull even with the Lions. Edward Waters split a pair of free throws to make it a 66-64 game then missed contested layups on back to back possessions allowing Florida Memorial to take home the win.
 
King's team-high 19 points came on a 7-for-13 shooting day, including a team-best 3-fo-6 from the three-point line. Senior Isis Lane recorded her sixth-straight – and seventh overall – double-double, totaling 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. The 6-foot-4 Lane also added four assists, three blocks, and a steal for the Lions. Airneisha Gamble, who missed the past two games with an illness, chipped in with 11 points off the bench; while Ashleign Gary and Howard with nine and eight points respectively.
 
While King's big night and the balanced contributions across the roster was the low-hanging fruit of reasons why Florida Memorial handed Edward Waters its first loss of the season, the true mitigating factor was that the Lions only turned the ball over 15 times Saturday. In the first meeting between the teams, FMU gave away the ball a season-worse 32 times – on 23 Tigers steals – but Lions head coach Gregory Stanback made sure his team took extra care of the ball Saturday and it yielded tangible results.
 
Edward Waters guard Mia Leite finished with the game-high point total of 27 and La'Quanza Glover added 19, but no other Tiger player finished in double figures.
 

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