THOMASVILLE, Ga. --- The Ave Maria women's basketball team was defeated by conference opponent Thomas University 57-73. The Gyrenes fall to 2-7 in the Sun Conference and 11-10 overall.

The Blue and Green will return to the court on Saturday, January 29 where they will play Johnson & Wales University in North Miami.

Annie Artise had another strong individual game scoring 18 points along with seven rebounds and three assists. Madison McDonald chipped in 10 points as well contributing six assists and three steals. Yvanessa continues to be strong on the glass, tearing down seven rebounds and adding nine points.

The Nighthawks did most of their damage in the first half, as they held the visiting Lady Gyrenes to 9.68 shooting and only 10 first half points. Thomas was able to capitalize off of AMU's mistakes; scoring 18 points off of 13 first half turnovers. The inside presence of the Nighthawks contributed 24 first half points, as the Lady Gyrenes only scored two points in the paint.

AMU came out of halftime with a sense of urgency as they were down by 40. Slowly, AMU found their way back into the game as they were down by only 17 with 4:10 minutes left to play. The large first half lead, and 19 total turnovers forced by Thomas proved to be too much for the visiting Blue and Green.

AMU shot 53% from the floor and 53% (7-13) from behind the arc in the second half.