AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Ave Maria University Lady Gyrenes will play two conference games, and one non conference game to open up the week. The first game will be played at Clearwater Christian College Thomas University at Tom Golisano on Tuesday night at 5 p.m.
 
Earlier this season AMU defeated the Cougars 94-41.
 
On Thursday evening, the Lady Gyrenes will take on Southeastern at Tom Golisano field house at 5:30 pm . Last season, AMU beat Southeastern in Lakeland, 66-62. The Fire responded by defeating the Blue and Green 73-67 in OT. The Lady Gyrenes went on to win 61-43.
 
On Saturday night, AMU will take on Florida Memorial University at Barry University. Last season AMU defeated the Lions 65-47 in their first meeting and 90-53 in the second game.

GREEN AND BLUE NEWS:
The Lady Gyrenes record stands at 9-4 and 1-3 in conference play.

        The Ave Maria women's basketball team was defeated by conference foe St. Thomas 65-70. Annie Artise had a strong offensive effort scoring 22 points, pulling down six rebounds, and dishing out four assist. Yvanessa Vincent had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor Lindsay played big for AMU scoring 16 (14 in the second half) points.It was a tough start for AMU, as the visiting Bobcats came out strong to build a solid 9-2 lead just minutes into the game. 10 first half turnovers proved to be detrimental as St. Thomas ran the floor in transition to get several uncontested layups. The Lady Gyrenes also saw early foul trouble as two starters finished the half with two and three fouls. The Bobcats also dominated the boards 24-12.  21 first half points by Dannisha Pierce gave the Bobcats a 20 point lead going into the locker room.AMU slowly started to chip away at St Thomas' first half lead. With 7:10 left to go in the game the Lady Gyrenes had cut their deficit in half. The next four minutes saw the two teams traded baskets and with 3:10 to go the Bobcats were up by nine. AMU responded by going on an 8-0 run to put the team down by 1 with 0:44 seconds to go with a 3 point basket by Lindsey. A two point field goal and fouls put the Bobcats to the free throw line to defeat the Lady Gyrenes.The Lady Gyrenes shot 40% for the game and 83% from the free throw line. St Thomas shot 50% from the field.  
        The Ave Maria women's basketball team was defeated by conference opponent Embry-Riddle University 51-71. The Blue and Green will return to the court on Tuesday, January 13 in Clearwater where they will play Clearwater Christian College.Lindsey scored 10 points and had two blocks. Vincent had a strong overall game scoring seven points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Artise also had a strong defensive game tearing down nine defensive rebounds (11 overall rebounds).
The Eagles did most of their damage on the inside in the first half.  ERAU was 0-8 from long range but knocked down 15 of their 23 attempts inside the arc. AMU struggled, shooting only 30% from the field.Back-to-back threes by Kimberly Tricker and Ashlee Rioux, sparked a 13-2 AMU run that closed the gap to 11 points (59-48) with 4:27 left to play. The Eagles went on a 12-3 run in the final 3:56 to seal the win and held AMU to their second lowest scoring total of the season.
The Blue and Green shot 29.5% from the field and 33% from behind the arc.


LADY GYRENES CATEGORY LEADERS
Madison McDonald – G, Sr. (17.8 ppg, 3.5 apg)
Annie Artise – G/F, Jr. (13.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
Ashlee Rioux– G, Sr. (9.3 ppg, 2.1 apg)
Yvanessa Vincent – F, Jr. (7.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg)
 
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
The Cougars are currently 1-9 on the season are are a member of the NCCAA Division II
 

SCOUTING THE FIRE
The Fire are currently 12-4; 4-1 TSC so far this season under first yaer head coach Jody Martinez. 2014-15 marks the inaugural season for the Eagles and their lone season in TSC. Embry-Riddle is currently 8-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Their lone loss in conference was to St Thomas earlier this month. They were defeated 54-70. Alyssa Ramos is currently averaging 17.5 ppg; while Cassidy Block is averaging 6.07 rpg. Currently, Southeastern is nationally ranked:

• Number 2 in Division II in 3-Pt Fg Made per Game (13.133)
• Number 3 in Division II in Total 3-Pt FG Made (197)
• Number 7 in Division II in 3-Pt Fg Pct (0.366)
• Number 10 in Division II in Free Throw Pct (0.742)
• Number 12 in Division II in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.047)
• Number 25 in Division II in Scoring Offense per Game (76.067)
• Number 29 in Division II in Scoring Margin (10.467)

 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
2014-15 marks a new era as Gregory Stanback was named head coach prior to the season. Veteran coach Kenneth Marshall walked the sidelines for the Lions for 36 seasons. The Lions are currently 3-11 overall and 0-3 in the conference. Abreona Cabell is averaging 12 ppg, 8.5 rpg, and 2.5 spg. Currently, Florida Memorial is nationally ranked:

• Number 29 in Division II in Steals per Game (10.857)
• Number 34 in Division II in Offensive Rebounds per Game (14.429)

THE SUN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
                            Conference    Overall

Webber	4-0	11-1
St. Thomas	3-0	10-3
Southeastern	4-1	12-4
Thomas	2-1	8-4
Embry-Riddle	1-2	9-4
Warner	1-2	5-7
Northwood	1-2	2-10
Ave Maria	1-3	9-6
Johnson & Wales	1-3	5-9
Florida Memorial	0-3	3-11

 TEAM HIGHLIGHTS AND NAIA DIVISION II NATIONAL RANKINGS
 
Milestones:
 
Artise is 31 points away from scoring her 1,000 career point as a Gyrene (969 total points)
 
McDonald is 100 points shy of 1,000 points scored in her career (900 total points). McDonald played her first two seasons at LaGrange College where she scored 385 for the Panthers.

Ave Maria University currently Ranks:

• Number 2 in Division II in Total Rebound Defense (32.000)
• Number 8 in Division II in Total Rebound Margin (10.636)
• Number 12 in Division II in 3-Pt Fg Made per Game (8.273)
• Number 21 in Division II in Offensive Rebounds per Game (15.636)
• Number 21 in Division II in Scoring Margin (15.091)
• Number 22 in Division II in Scoring Defense per Game (58.091)
• Number 25 in Division II in Total 3-Pt FG Made (91)
• Number 33 in Division II in 3-Pt Fg Pct (0.336)
• Number 33 in Division II in Blocks per Game (3.364)
• Number 36 in Division II in Assists per Game (15.182)
• Number 40 in Division II in Steals per Game (10.455)
• Number 43 in Division II in Scoring Offense per Game (73.182)
• Number 44 in Division II in Total Rebounds per Game (42.636)
• Number 44 in Division II in Total Blocks (37)

    Ave Maria Individual Rankings:
 
McDonald
 

• Ranks Number 32 in Division II in Points per Game (17.84)
• Ranks Number 35 in Division II Pct (0.50)
• Ranks Number 47 in Division II in Total Scoring (232)

 
Vincent

• Ranks Number 36 in Division II in Offensive Rebounds per Game (3.231)

 
Statistics as of 01/05/15