Looking To Stay Atop Conference Standings, FMU WBB Hosting Coastal Georgia Saturday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (6-4, 4-0) vs. College of Coastal Georgia Mariners (3-8, 0-4)
When: Saturday, December 4, 2021
Where: Florida Memorial, Miami Gardens, Fla. | FMU Wellness Center
Tip-off: 2 p.m.
Last Meeting: Feb. 11, 2021, Loss 73-75
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link
Tickets: General Admission $5 (Purchase)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – One of the traits of objectively good teams is that they "beat the teams that they're supposed to beat" – meaning when there's a decisive merit gap between them and the opponent, they manufacture a victory.

Florida Memorial University will be looking to pick up another critical conference victory and stay near the top of the early Sun Conference standings by dispatching a struggling College of Coastal Georgia team Saturday afternoon in the FMU Wellness Center.

Saturday's game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off and will be the opening game in what will be a women-men conference doubleheader between the programs.

General admission ticket prices for the weekend's games start at $5 dollars and are currently available for purchase online at www.FMUAthletics.com/Tickets or can be bought at the Wellness Center ticket window on the day of the game. FMU students receive free admission with proof of a valid school ID.

The Lions (6-4, 4-0 The Sun Conference) saw junior guard Natalia Leguizamon score 22 points for the second straight game this past Thursday as they cruised to an 84-51 victory over Thomas University (Ga.).

Leguizamon also finished with 7 rebounds and a game-high 6 steals as Floridas Memorial forced the Night Hawks into 26 turnovers and held them to 31.7 percent shooting from the field.

Aliyah-Deen Ahmad and Chantel Barnett each contributed 17 points as the Lions made easy work of Thomas University even with leading scorer Keaynna Tolbert only registering 2 points. Tolbert, a 2020-21 All-Sun Conference First Team performer, was back in the lineup after missing the previous game with a lower extremity injury – she came off the bench and played 23 minutes but did dish out a game-high 5 assists.

While injuries will always be the bane of any coach, Florida Memorial head coach Gregory Stanback is spinning the injury bug bites his team has received up to this point into an opportunity to develop his roster's depth.

In addition to Tolbert missing time, the Lions haven't had guard Jamari Tillman, a top-three scorer on the team this past season, available at all this season as she's working her way back from a lower extremity injury she sustained this past season. Tillman has, however, has been cleared to return to practice and has been going through warmups with the team the past few games, meaning her return should be imminent.

Also, 6-foot-3 center Danielle Jackson has been out since early November for an undisclosed reason while 5-foot-10 wing Cheyanne Whitfield will likely be out until after the New Year with a lower extremity injury.

Leguizamon, Ahmad, and Barnett have shouldered much of production load recently while Stanback has been able to get valuable minutes for freshmen Diamond Mays and Hanifa Neal, who even earned a spot in the starting lineup during the game against Thomas University.

College of Coastal Georgia enters the weekend hungry for a victory after losing its past five games. The Mariners (3-8, 0-4) have been an up-and-down team this season; opening the year on a three-game losing streak, followed by a three-game winning streak; before going on its current five-game losing skid.

A guard-heavy team, Coastal Georgia is powered by 5-foot-5 junior guard Kaliyah Little – whose scoring 12.7 points per game and leads the team despite only playing in seven of the team's 11 games this season.

Look for Stanback to turn up the defensive pressure again Saturday, likely dialing up a variety of full court presses or traps to disrupt CCGA's guards – who have been susceptible to high turnover nights this season – while also creating easy scoring opportunities for his team.

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