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Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

FMU player
61
Winner Florida Memorial FLORIDA 1-4, 1-0
51
St. Thomas ST. THOM 2-1, 0-1
Winner
Florida Memorial FLORIDA
1-4, 1-0
61
Final
51
St. Thomas ST. THOM
2-1, 0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Florida Memorial FLORIDA 16 10 12 23 61
St. Thomas ST. THOM 17 13 6 15 51

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

Florida Memorial WBB Has Strong Defensive Night, Tops St. Thomas In Conference Opener Saturday

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – There's an old basketball adage that says "offense doesn't go everywhere, but defense goes anywhere" – meaning the ability to play strong defense is a trait that will benefit a team no matter what the circumstances.
 
Florida Memorial University showed its defensive chops Saturday, holding host St. Thomas University to just 28 percent shooting from the field while forcing the Bobcats into 21 turnovers as it picked up a 61-51 victory in STU's Fernandez Family Center Gymnasium.
 
Diamond Mays scored a team-high 14 points off the bench to lead the Lions, who earned their first overall and conference victory of the season Saturday. Monique Esbrand and Destiny Marin both added 10 points while Aliyah-Deen Ahmad manufactured 9 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
FMU (1-3, 1-0 The Sun Conference) took a 38-36 lead into the fourth quarter and wasted little time taking control of the final 10 minutes – opening up with a quick five-point spurt en route to building a 54-41 lead with just under five minutes to play. That 13-point advantage put the Bobcats in a deep enough hole for Florida Memorial to cruise into the final 61-51 margin.
 
Playing its second game in as many days, Florida Memorial didn't have its usual offensive efficiency Saturday. As a team, the Lions shot 36 percent (19-for-53) from the field and 28 percent from three-point range. Senior guard Keaynna Tolbert, the team's leading scorer and First Team All-Sun Conference selection from this past season, had tough night shooting the ball – totaling just 7 points on 3-of-11 shooting (0-of-4 from three and 1-of-4 from the free throw line) in 32 minutes of action.
 
Even without Tolbert's usual contributions on offense, Lions head coach Gregory Stanback's team made up for it with its defensive intensity – contesting shots and staying attached to St. Thomas' shooters – and limited the Bobcats to just one shot on many possessions. STU had just one player finish with double-digit points – Patricia Martinez-Sanz, who had a game-high 16 – and held the Bobcats to 6-of-32 shooting in the second half.
 
Up next for FMU will be another three-game week, beginning this coming Tuesday (Nov. 16) when it travels to face NAIA independent Florida National University in Hialeah, Florida.
 
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