MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. | In the regular season finale, Florida Memorial led by as much as 15 points before squandering a second half lead, but outscored their opponents 14-2 in overtime, defeating Webber 82-70 on senior day.
Seniors
Aliyah-Deen Ahmad and
Tianna Ayulo were honored prior to tip-off. This season, both players have combined for six SUN Women's Basketball Player of the Year awards. Against the Warriors, Ahmad struggled from the floor and made just 3-of-16 field goals, but sinked 11-of-12 from the foul line and finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, one block and one steal while Ayulo buried 11-for-19 shots from the floor and produced a game-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds and four assists as the Lions escaped an overtime thriller.
"We outscored them 14-2 in overtime, and it was simply because of our defense," said head coach
Gregory Stanback, who led his team to 15-straight conference victories. "We struggled early a bit on the defensive end, but once we decided to play defense, we did what we did in overtime."
As a team, the Lions gave up 24 offensive boards, but forced 15 Webber turnovers. The team took advantage of free throws and connected on 21-of-28 (75 percent) from the foul line.
FMU will host the 2022-23 SUN Women's Basketball Tournament as a result of being the outright number one seed. The Lions will have a bye in the first round of the tournament and now have an automatic berth to the semi-finals.