MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. ( Nov. 10, 2022) – Florida National’s women’s basketball team could not stop a speedy Florida Memorial Lions team Thursday night as the Conquistadors fell 73-84. The defeat marked FNU’s third loss of the year and its first game since returning for the University of the Virgin Islands HBCU Classic. Florida Memorial came in 1-2 to this home contest and looked comfortable running the floor from the initial tip off.
The first quarter was one the few bright spots for FNU as they commanded an 18-16 point lead at the end of the period. Natalie Larranaga recorded four points and a heads-up steal in six minutes of play. Veteran Gabriela Solis had a team-high five points on 2-5 shooting in the period. The Lions were pushing the pace of the contest, crashing boards and attacking the paint with a ferocity that kept them close to their competitors the whole contest. Chantel Barnett had a team-high five points as both sides returned to their benches before the start of the second period.
FMU took the next quarter as an opportunity to blow the game open, shooting an impressive 11-19 from the field and going 2-4 from beyond the arc. Florida National struggled to keep with the pace FMU was setting and unfortunately began to foul Lion attackers. FMU was 7-10 from the charity stripe and outscored the Conquistadors 31-19 in that second quarter. As the third quarter began, Kaylee Llanos provided a spark in the second half with 10 points on 2-3 shooting from distance. But FMU seemed to do just enough to keep a Conquistador surge at bay.
The fourth was a close ball game as a shifty layup from Larranaga cut FMU’s lead to 76-70 with three minutes to go. But this was as close as the game would be in the final minutes as FMU picked up a couple of layups to close out the match.
Larranaga and Llanos both had 16 points and Jada Donaldson had 11 points off the bench for the Conquistadors.
Up Next: FNU takes on its first exhibition of the year against Palm Beach Atlantic on November 16 at 5:30 p.m.
