FMU Women In Thick Of Conference Race, Host Coastal Georgia Thursday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (12-12, 7-7) vs. College of Coastal Georgia Mariners (17-6, 11-3)
When: February 13, 2020
Where: Florida Memorial, Miami Gardens, Fla. | FMU Wellness Center
Tip-off: 6 p.m.
Last Meeting: Jan. 11, 2020, Loss 63-71
Live Stream Video & Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/fmulions/index.htm

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University's women head coach Gregory Stanback said his team is in already "playoff mode". Stanback and his team are operating in a bit of a survival mode because they know that the outcome of their final four regular season games could not only be the difference between claiming a spot in the postseason tournament and not, but also earning the highest seed possible.

The Lady Lions will look to keep control of their playoff destiny when they host College of Coastal Georgia at 6 p.m. Thursday night in the FMU Wellness Center.

Per usual, Thursday night will be a women-men doubleheader – with the men's teams scheduled to take the floor at 8 p.m. – but it will be a special "blackout" theme for FMU – as it will handout commemorative black t-shirts to the first 1,000 fans to enter the arena.

Florida Memorial (12-12, 7-7 Sun Conference) did itself a huge favor this past weekend knocking off rival St. Thomas University. That victory, which capped the school's final spring homecoming, broke a tie between FMU and St. Thomas for sixth place in the conference standings and elevated the Lions alone into fifth place. FMU now only trails No. 4 seed Ave Maria University by a half-game in the conference standings entering Thursday's games.

Stanback's players have played with an increased sense of urgency. Winners of four of their past six games, the Lions have gotten big performances from senior Isis Lane – who recorded a season-high 21 rebounds to go along with 19 points in FMU's win over St. Thomas University. Junior guard Airneisha Gamble has scored 10 points or more in nine consecutive games and freshman center Ixsamar Gonzalez scored a career-high 18 points against the Bobcats this past Saturday.

Standing in FMU's way Thursday will be a Coastal Georgia team that got the best of the Lions in their first meeting and currently sits in second place in the Sun Conference standings. While the Mariners (17-6, 11-3) did top FMU in their first meeting, it was when the Lions were quite shorthanded.

Lane nor guard Shawnice King were available in the first game, where the undermanned Lions cut an 11-point second-half deficit down to just three with two-and-a-half minutes left to play before falling 71-63.

Defensively, FMU will need to put together a strong collective effort as Coastal Georgia runs a balanced offensive system that has produced four different players averaging at least 10 points per game this season. Conversely, Florida Memorial's ultimate success Thursday will hinge on its ability to get tangible offensive contributions from players other than Lane and Gamble.