Women’s Basketball Fends Off Florida Memorial Friday, 64-60

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team notched a 64-60 victory at Florida Memorial University Friday evening to close out the 2016 calendar year.

The ENC Lions improve to 7-2 on the season with the result while the FMU Lions drop to 2-10 overall.

Ashley Rendon (La Puente, Calif.) paced the visitors with 17 points off the bench. Shelby Holmes (Seeley Lake, Mont.) finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, and six assists on the night. Jessica Franco (Phoenix, Ariz.) poured in 16 points and grabbed seven boards.

Eastern Nazarene held a narrow 15-13 edge over Florida Memorial at the conclusion of the first quarter.

Florida Memorial bounced back to outscore Eastern Nazarene 18-14 in the second period to own a slim 31-29 lead at the halftime break.

Eastern Nazarene erupted for 27 points in the third while limiting Florida Memorial to 11 points. The guests sported a 56-42 advantage heading into the fourth frame.

The home side narrowed the gap with 18 points in the final quarter while Eastern Nazarene mustered eight points to edge Florida Memorial, 64-60, in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Eastern Nazarene shot 41.2% from the floor and a sizzling 83.3% from beyond the arc, connecting on 10-of-12 attempts from three-point range. Florida Memorial was limited to 30.5% shooting from the field despite draining 6-of-9 attempts from the perimeter on the night.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns home to resume conference play against Roger Williams January 3.