MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. | FMU trailed by nine points at halftime before outscoring Ave Maria 49-25 in the second half en route to a 73-58 victory at the FMU Wellness Center. The contest marks the seventh straight win for the red hot Lions, who improve to 11-1 on the year and remain a perfect 4-0 in SUN Conference play under first-year head coach Kevin Herod.

"At halftime, I told my group that elite teams can play through adversity and make adjustments," said Herod. "I also told them just because we were prepared to play, but not giving the effort we needed to maximize our defensive pressure on the court will hurt us and we need to fix it in the first five minutes of the third quarter."

The Lions answered the call of their coach, dominating the Gyrenes in the third quarter 28-12.

FMU was led by Makayla Transou who tied a game-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, including 2-of-4 from downtown while teammate Brittany Rivera finished with 11 points, eight boards and three steals.

Fellow Lion Kamesha Moore nearly produced a double-double, scoring 10 points to go along with nine assists, six steals and one rebound in just 22 minutes of action.

As a team, FMU dominated down low, scoring 38 points compared to 24 for their opponent. The Lions capitalized on the Gyrenes mistakes, scoring 20 points off of 23 Ave Maria turnovers.

FMU's bench outscored Ave Maria 23-9, coming up big in the second half for the Lions.

Florida Memorial University returns to conference play on Thursday, January 9 as they face Webber International on the road. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. in Babson Park, Fla.