AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria women's basketball team defeated St. Catherine College 70-63 in a non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon. The Gyrenes are 9-4 on the season, 1-1 in the Sun Conference. The two teams also played yesterday with the Green and Blue beating the visiting Patriots 88-83 in overtime.

The Blue and Green will return to the court on Wednesday, January 7 at Tom Golisano field house when they conference foe St Thomas. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
Madison McDonald continues to be an offensive powerhouse for the Lady Gyrenes scoring 31 points and adding two assists. Annie Artise chipped in 15 points on the afternoon. Saje Schlatterer and Yvanessa Vincent controlled the boards grabbing eight and 12 rebounds apiece.

The first half saw both teams shooting well. With the score tied at 21 with eight minutes to play, AMU went on a 13-4 scoring run to widen the lead. AMU shot 47% from the field and 12/12 from the charity stripe in the first half. The forwards played big for the Lady Gyrenes grabbing down 10 rebounds.

The second half started strong for AMU. The Lady Gyrenes played solid defense as the visiting Patriots shot 0-10 to start the half. With the Green and Blue ahead by 18 with five minutes left in the game, the Saint Catherine's pushed their defense into high gear as they slowly crept back into the game. With 1:30 left to go in the game, AMU was up by seven. The Lady Gyrenes shot well from the free throw line to secure the win.

The Lady Gyrenes shot 40% for the game and dominated the boards 40-29.

Four players scored in double figures for the Patriots. Leading the way was Sasha Ruiz-Lopez and Miranda Wilson with 13 points apiece.