Women's Basketball 11/13/2021 12:43:00 PM J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

Lions WBB Opens Conference Play At St. Thomas Saturday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (0-3, 0-0) at St. Thomas University Bobcats (2-0, 0-0)
When: Saturday, November 13, 2021
Where: St. Thomas, Miami Gardens, Fla. | Fernandez Family Center
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Last Meeting: Feb. 20, 2021, Win 60-53
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University will be looking to make its first win of the season also be its first conference win of the season when it squares off against rival St. Thomas University Saturday night in STU's Fernandez Family Center.

Saturday's game, which will tip-off at 5 p.m. instead of the originally scheduled 2 p.m. because St. Thomas will also be hosting the championship match of the Sun Conference Volleyball Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon, will be the first game in the women-men doubleheader between the programs.

The men's teams will take the floor 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game in what will be the opening salvo in the basketball leg of the "Battle of Miami Gardens" rivalry series between the neighboring schools.

FMU enters the weekend as a team hungry for a victory. While the Lions' record up to this point has left some to be desired, it's not because the team has underachieved. Florida Memorial (0-4) opened the season at the Dream Invitational in Alabama, where it dropped a close battle to Stillman College followed by a tough outing against a veteran Rust College team. The Lions also fell to a solid LSU-Shreveport team this past week followed by non-counting exhibition losses to NCAA Division-I Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida International University.

Florida Memorial head coach Gregory Stanback hopes his team's tough early-season schedule works as a sharpening agent, preparing his team for the rest of this long season – specifically for conference play.

Also, during first handful of games, Stanback's has been put in a position to use a lot of different lineups due to multiple players missing time up to this point in the season. Senior guard Keaynna Tolbert missed the first two games of the season; junior guard Jamari Tillman – a starter this past season – continues to be sidelined as she recovers from a lower extremity injury; and sophomore Cheyanne Whitfield remains out with a lower extremity injury that may keep her out for majority of the season.

With extra spots in the rotation open, it's been two seasoned, but new additions to the Lions' roster – senior Aliyah-Deen Ahmad and graduate transfer Monique Esbrand that have stepped up and flashed solid levels of productivity working next to Tolbert and sophomore Chantel Barnett.

St. Thomas University (2-0) enters the weekend a confident and undefeated group. The Bobcats opened their season with a non-counting exhibition loss at Division-II Lynn University (Fla.), but have won back-to-back regular season games, defeating LSU-Shreveport by 18 points and Florida National University by 22 points.

STU has been a balanced offensive team so far this season, likely stemming from the fact that is an experienced roster with an all-senior starting five and just three underclassmen on its 18-player roster.

Defensively, Florida Memorial will need to slow down Bobcats guards Patricia Martinez-Sanz and Kasey Gagan while also keeping Chrystal Pressley off the boards, if it wants to defeat St. Thomas at home for the first time since the 2011 season.

Follow Florida Memorial University Athletics on social media
Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMUWBB | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions

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