Florida Memorial WBB Hosts Struggling Thomas University Thursday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (5-4, 3-0) vs. Thomas University Night Hawks (1-6, 1-2)
When: Thursday, December 2, 2021
Where: Florida Memorial, Miami Gardens, Fla. | FMU Wellness Center
Tip-off: 6 p.m.
Last Meeting: Jan. 7, 2021, Win 82-70
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link
Tickets: General Admission $5 (Purchase)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University will be looking to extend its home winning streak to three games and stay in front of the pack in the early Sun Conference standings race when it hosts Thomas University Thursday night in the FMU Wellness Center.

Thursday's game, which is set to tip-off at 6 p.m., will be the first game of a women-men conference doubleheader between the programs as the men's teams will take the floor 30 minutes following the end of the women's matchup.

Tickets for the game are currently available for purchase online or fans can buy tickets at the Wellness Center ticket window on the night of the game for $5 dollars. Admission is free for current Florida Memorial students with proof of a valid school ID card.

The Lions (5-4, 3-0 The Sun Conference) got back above .500 with its lopsided win over NAIA independent Florida National University this past Tuesday. Even without leading scorer Keaynna Tolbert (lower extremity) in the lineup, FMU turned up its defensive intensity while Natalia Leguizamon poured in a career-high 22 points to power the 79-47 victory.

Chantel Barnett added 20 points for the Lions while they held FNU to just 33 percent shooting from the field and 7.7 percent from three-point range.

Tolbert's status for Thursday is still unclear, although Florida Memorial head coach Gregory Stanback may elect to sit the 2020-21 All-Sun Conference First Teamer again given the fact the Lions are welcoming in another sub .500 team in Thomas University.

Losers of its past three games, TU's women have struggled this season. The Night Hawks (1-6, 1-2) started its current losing streak with a narrow (63-68) loss to Ave Maria University but followed that up with an 83-point loss at Southeastern University and a 24-point defeat at Albany State University (Ga.) earlier this week. Thomas hasn't scored more than 64 points in any game and has held just one opponent to less than 62 points.

It'll be interesting to see if FMU junior guard Jamari Tillman will make her healthy return to the lineup. Tillman, who was second on the team in scoring this past season before being sidelined with a lower extremity injury, has been cleared to return to practice and went through warmups with the team prior to Tuesday's game but did not play.

Once Tillman and Tolbert do return to the lineup, Stanback will have even more depth as Aliyah-Deen Ahmad and Leguizamon have shown themselves of being capable producers on both ends of the floor while freshman Diamond Mays continues to flash potential as a spot-up shooter and willing defender.

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