Lady Lions Ready For Tough Road Test At Johnson & Wales

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (8-9, 3-4) at Johnson & Wales Wildcats (11-4, 5-2)
When: January 16, 2020
Where: Johnson & Wales University, North Miami, Fla. | Wildcat Center
Tip-off: 6 p.m.
Last Meeting: Feb. 2, 2019, Loss 79-85
Live Stream Video & Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/jwunm/portal.htm?eventId=558447&streamType=video

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University's women will play the third game of a three-game road slate Thursday when it travels to face Sun Conference rival Johnson & Wales University in the Wildcat Center.

The women's game is set to tip-off at 6 p.m. and will be the first matchup in a women's-men's doubleheader.

Florida Memorial (8-9, 3-4 Sun Conference) split its two games on the road this past weekend, knocking off Thomas University then falling to College of Coastal Georgia. Playing on the road is always tough, but the Lady Lions were behind the proverbial "eight ball" because it played the two games without leading scorer and rebounder Isis Lane. The 6-foot-4 senior has been inactive and it's unclear whether she'll be available to FMU head coach Gregory Stanback Thursday against Johnson and Wales.

Worse yet, Florida Memorial lost guard Shawnice King to a lower extremity injury during the win over Thomas and she was unavailable during the loss to Coastal Georgia. King's status for Thursday also remains unclear.

Amidst the absences of key players, it has been junior Airneisha Gamble who has stepped up and shouldered a heavier load for the Lions. The 5-foot-5 guard recorded a season-high 21 points this past Thursday and followed it up with a 15-point, 10-rebound performance this past Saturday.

Naturally, Florida Memorial would receive a tangible boost in output and an intangible boost in morale if it had its full complement of players available Thursday – but Stanback has shown that he can build a gameplan that gets the most out of his team even if it's missing multiple pieces.

Standing in FMU's way Thursday will be Johnson and Wales team that is enjoying a bit of a renaissance season. The Lady Wildcats (11-4, 5-2) have already surpassed their win total from the 2018-19 season and have shown themselves to be a potent offensive squad. JWU is the second-highest scoring team in the Sun Conference (72.3 points per game) and has three players averaging at least 11 points per game, led by Tianna Ayulo – who's turning in nearly 16 points per contest.

As good as Johnson and Wales has been this season, it was handled 74-56 by Webber International University recently – the same WIU team that Florida Memorial defeated 72-66 this season.