MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – There's a hackneyed sports cliché that says "big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games".
After the performances of Florida Memorial University senior
Isis Lane and freshman
Ixsamar Gonzalez in what was, arguably, the Lady Lions' biggest of game of the season up to this point – you can apply it once again.
Led by Lane's 19 points and season-high 21 rebounds along with Gonzalez's career high 18 points, Florida Memorial manufactured a 70-60 victory over St. Thomas University Saturday in front of a near-capacity crowd in the FMU Wellness Center on FMU's Homecoming.
It was a special day all-around for Florida Memorial University. The school celebrated what will be its final spring (basketball) homecoming as it transitions to a fall (football) homecoming – scheduled for October 10 – while also honoring longtime FMU women's basketball coach Kenneth Marshall, unveiling a placard naming the women's locker room in his honor.
With the game tied at 60 with six minutes to play, the Lady Lions (12-12, 7-7 Sun Conference) took control of the game with their defensive, holding the Bobcats scoreless over the final stretch while scoring 10 unanswered points – which included a pair of layups by Lane – to earn a much-needed conference victory and maintain complete control of their postseason destiny.
Florida Memorial entered the night essentially tied with St. Thomas (9-15, 6-8) for the sixth spot in the Sun Conference standings. Because only the top six of the 10 teams qualify for the conference's postseason tournament, Saturday's game carried extra weight.
Lane's and Gonzalez's big nights were the products of favorable genetics. The 6-foot-1 Gonzalez and the 6-foot-4 Lane were able to run roughshod over the St. Thomas frontcourt – which only featured one player at 5-foot-11 – as the Lady Lions grabbed 50 rebounds to St. Thomas' 29 and won the second-chance points battle 17-5.
FMU head coach
Gregory Stanback said that he knew his team's success against St. Thomas – which beat FMU in their first meeting back in December – would come down to his team's ability to capitalize on its size advantage.
"Going in, we knew we had to dominate the boards and the paint in order to be successful, but I didn't think it would go this well," Stanback said with a laugh. "We knew that we were going to win this game from the inside-out. You look at Isis' performance, grabbing 21 boards, and you see the way Ixsamar was able to score down low and we knew we had to just keep pounding the ball down there and really leaning on our advantage."
Aside from Lane, who shot 50 percent from the field and 66 percent from beyond the three-point line, and Gonzalez (who was 7-of-11 from the field) – the Lions also got 13 points from guard
Airneisha Gamble. With her baker's dozen Saturday, Gamble has now finished with double-digit points in nine consecutive games.
Shawnice King added eight points and rebounds for FMU,
Brittney Howard chipped in with six points and seven boards, and
Anjelie Tirone even gave the Lady Lions a spark with four points and three rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench.
Florida Memorial, which will host College of Coastal Georgia on Thursday (Feb. 13), not only did itself a huge favor with the victory over the Lady Bobcats – who were led by Kylie Vogel's 14 points – but also maintained its ability to climb into a much more favorable spot in the Sun Conference standings.
Stanback said that his team is in playoff mode – challenging his team to win its final five games.
"We had a talk about it this week in practice…and I told them 'we're already in the playoffs'," Stanback said. "We need to win out the rest of the way, starting with tonight's game. The No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 teams were pretty much tied at the beginning of the day. We win out, we can climb as high as the No. 2 seed in the conference. We control our own destiny."
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