BABSON PARK, Fla. (February 25, 2020) – Despite never trailing in the game, it took clutch free throws by LeAndra Franklin and RayGene Garner to help send the fourth-seeded Webber International University women's basketball team past fifth-seeded Florida Memorial University by a score of 74-70 during The Sun Conference Tournament quarterfinal round on Tuesday evening inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.

It was a great first quarter for Webber as the Warriors closed out the period on an 8-0 run bookended by 3-pointers from Eletra Graham and Amaya Lasley to double up the score at 20-10 after 10 minutes from play.

In addition to hitting four 3-pointers and shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc, it was also a great first quarter defensively for the Warriors as Webber held Florida Memorial to only 23.1 percent (3-13) shooting from the field.

However, the game was pretty much even from there as Webber only hit one other 3-pointer the rest of the way and never led by more than 10 while the Lions got back to within three points of the lead at 31-28 with 1:40 left in the second quarter and then got to within one twice in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Webber led by as much as nine points at 59-50 halfway through the period thanks to four straight points by Paris Copeland.

Then after FMU got back to within four at 61-57 with three minutes left, Webber went back ahead by nine at 66-57 with only 1:34 left thanks to a 5-0 run featuring back-to-back layups by Taniya Patrick and a free throw by Franklin.

However, after a fast break layup by Samantha Pacheco made it a seven-point lead at 69-62 with only a minute remaining, the Warriors nearly let the Lions back in as they got an and-one off a missed free throw attempt and ultimately made it only a two-point game at 69-67 with 37 seconds left.

Two clutch free throws by Franklin with 30 seconds to go made it a four-point game at 71-67, but yet another and-one by FMU then cut the margin to just one point at 71-70 with 15 seconds remaining.

A few seconds later, Garner stepped to the line with ice water in her veins and made two free throw shots to make it 73-70.

Then, Thalia Jackson came up with the big defensive rebound on FMU's missed attempt to tie the game from three with 11 seconds left, leading to another free throw by Garner to make it a two-possession game with only four seconds left.

Overall for the game, Webber was not great from the free throw line, shooting only 55.3 percent (21-38), but neither was FMU at 61 percent (25-41) as both teams struggled to find consistency from the charity stripe until the Warriors did just enough at the end.

Webber shot a very effective 66.67 percent (8-12) from the field in the fourth quarter and was 9-of-14 (64.29 percent) from the free throw line in the quarter while FMU was 7-for-16 (43.75 percent) from the field and 10-for-14 (71.43 percent) from the free throw line over the final 10 minutes.

"We played extremely hard and I am proud of these young ladies tonight," spoke Head Coach Grady Morrell. "I am so happy for them and for us as a team right now. On to the next."

It was a pretty balanced scoring effort overall for the Warriors as four players reached double digits in scoring. Garner led the way with 15 points on 50 percent shooting from the field (5-10) while also going 5-for-8 from the free throw line and adding seven rebounds.

Copeland was next with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from the free throw line.

Patrick finished with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field while adding four blocked shots and matching Garner with seven rebounds.

Franklin scored 12 points and was 6-for-8 from the free throw line while also dishing out six assists.

Last but not least, Lasley came up with clutch moments throughout the game en route to finishing with eight points and six boards, and Jackson finished with a game-high eight rebounds.

Webber is now 18-11 on the season and will live to see another day in The Sun Conference Tournament while FMU finished its year up at 13-16.

Next up is The Sun Conference Tournament semifinals as the Warriors have to take on the host school of the final four for the tournament, No. 1 Southeastern University (26-2). The matchup is currently set for 3 p.m. on Friday, February 28, inside the Furnace in Lakeland, Florida. In the last meeting this season between the two teams on February 8 in Babson Park, Florida, the Warriors only fell by 13 points at home, 72-59, which is the closest Sun Conference game that Southeastern has played in all season long. So, if any team has a chance to put out the top-ranked Fire, it might just be the Warriors.