Women's Basketball 11/19/2021 4:25:00 PM J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

Florida Memorial WBB Hosts Keiser University Saturday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (2-3, 2-0) vs. Keiser University Seahawks (6-1, 2-0)
When: Saturday, November 20, 2021
Where: Florida Memorial, Miami Gardens, Fla. | FMU Wellness Center
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Last Meeting: Jan. 21, 2021, Loss 66-74
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link
Tickets: General Admission $5 (Purchase)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University will be looking to extend its current winning streak to three straight this weekend when it hosts Keiser University Saturday afternoon in the FMU Wellness Center.

Saturday will mark the first women-men doubleheader of the season, with the women opening the action at 2 p.m. and the men's teams taking the floor 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game.

Florida Memorial (2-3, 2-0 The Sun Conference) enters the weekend riding the confidence of picking up its second straight – conference – win this past Thursday at Warner University. The Lions looked strong early, opening as large as a 16-point leader through the third quarter, but put it in cruise control too early and saw Warner rally back to take a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter.

FMU regained control, turning up its defensive pressure again while getting a critical three-pointer by Aliyah-Deen Ahmad and some clutch free throw shooting to walk away with a 85-79 lead.

Ahmad turned in one of her best performances of the season Thursday, racking 17 points and grabbing 5 rebounds. It was sophomore Chantel Barnett, however, that led the way with her 19 points and 6 steals. Barnett, the 2021 Sun Conference Freshman of the Year, flashed the form that earned her the award and All-Conference honors this past season.

Like the Lions, Keiser will also be looking to extend a winning streak this weekend. Winners of their past two games, which were also conference games, the Seahawks (6-1, 2-1) have looked impressive through the early parts of this season.

KU has shown itself to be a offensive-potent group, putting up 70 points per game so far this season, while still being able to put pressure on teams defensively – evident by the 48.7 points allowed-per-game average it sports so far.

It's 5-foot-10 freshman forward Elise Ellison-Coons that leads the Seahawks in scoring (11.0 PPG) and rebounding (8.4 RPG) this season even though she hasn't been listed as a starter in any of Keiser's games so far this season. FMU head coach Gregory Stanback will also need to have KU guard Chiara De Virgillio near the top of the scouting report, as she's one of the early leaders in the conference in three-point shooting percentage and launches shots from long-range at a solid volume.

Florida Memorial's biggest key to success this season will continue to be its ability to defend – specifically, speeding up the pace of the game and creating turnovers to create easy scoring opportunities in transition.

It'll also be paramount that FMU gets a bounce-back game from senior guard Keaynna Tolbert. Tolbert has scored just 15 total points through the past two games, dure in large part to the fact that she's been saddled with foul trouble through both past two contests.

Whether Tolbert's output increases or not, Stanback will also like to see the continued development of and contributions from Diamond Mays – who has scored 14 point in each of the past two games – and Natalia Leguizamon, a junior guard that has started in each of the past two games.

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

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