AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Ave Maria University Lady Gyrenes will play two conference games this week. The first game will be played against St. Thomas University at Tom Golisano on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. Last year, the Lady Gyrenes split the regular season series with the Bobcats. In the first game, AMU lost 54-67. In the regular season finale, AMU came out on top 56-40.
 
Saturday afternoon, the Green and Blue will take on Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach in the first ever matchup between the two teams. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.

GREEN AND BLUE NEWS:
The Lady Gyrenes went 2-0; 0-0 in Conference play the week of December 28. Their record stands at 9-4 and 1-1 in conference play. 
        AMU defeated St. Catherine College, 88-83 (OT) in a non-conference game last Monday.Four members of the team scored in double figures. Madison McDonald led the way with 27 points, four assists and four steals. Amber Frounfelter contributed 20 points and shot 7-8 from the free throw line. Annie Artise chipped in 15 points and four assists, while Yvanessa Vincent had 11 points, seven rebounds and five steals in the win.
        It was all Ave Maria early in the first half as they were able to go on a 11-0 scoring run in the first six minutes. With 6:30 to go in the first half, AMU was up by 10 when the visiting Patriots went on a run of their own to cut the lead to three. AMU was able to score 13 points off of the Patriots 12 first half turnovers.
        In the second half, AMU scored often and early as they were able to build on their halftime lead. With 17 minutes remaining the Lady Gyrenes built up a nine point lead before the Patriots called a timeout. St Catherine's came out of the time out with a vengeance. In the next 10 minutes, the visiting team forced nine turnovers and scored 10 points off of the mistakes of the Lady Gyrenes. With six minutes remaining and the score tied, St Catherine took the lead off of a three-pointer from Stacie Shrout. The Patriots went on to build a six point lead before McDonald made two free throws with 20 seconds left in the game to force overtime.
AMU never trailed as they outscored St Catherine's 15-10 in the five minute overtime period. The Lady Gyrenes shot 40% for the game and 77 % from the free throw line.

        AMU defeated St. Catherine College, 70-63 last Tuesday afternoon. McDonald 31 points and added two assists. Artise chipped in 15 points on the afternoon. Saje Schlatterer and 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.


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 BOBCATS
The Bobcats are currently 8-3 on the season and 1-0 in TSC action beating Southeastern 70-54. Dannisha Pierce is leading the way for the Bobcats averaging 19.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. Pierce has been named TSC Player of the Week a staggering three times this season. Claudia Martin is another offensive threat for the Bobcats as she is averaging 16 points per game. Currently St. Thomas is nationally ranked:

• Number 3 in Division II in Scoring Margin (23.818)
• Number 3 in Division II in 3-Pt Fg Pct Defense (0.229)
• Number 4 in Division II in Steals per Game (14.727)
• Number 5 in Division II in Field Goal Pct (0.476)
• Number 6 in Division II in Field Goal Pct Defense (0.327)
• Number 6 in Division II in Scoring Defense per Game (52.455)
• Number 9 in Division II in Turnover Margin (5.909)
   

 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
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. The Eagles lost to Webber 38-47 before the holiday break.  Mercedes Jorge is leading the way averaging 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds while Sabrina Whiting is averaging 10.9 points and 3.3 assists per game. Five players average at least eight points each for the Eagles. Currently Embry-Riddle is nationally ranked:

• Number 1 in Division II in 3-Pt Fg Pct Defense (0.209)
• Number 1 in Division II in Field Goal Pct Defense (0.305)
• Number 4 in Division II in Total Rebounds per Game (47.818)
• Number 6 in Division II in Total Rebound Margin (11.545)
• Number 7 in Division II in Scoring Defense per Game (54.091)
• Number 8 in Division II in Blocks per Game (5.091)

 
THE SUN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
                            Conference        Overall     

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

 

TEAM HIGHLIGHTS AND NAIA DIVISION II NATIONAL RANKINGS
 
Milestones:
 
Artise is 53 points away from scoring her 1,000 career point as a Gyrene (947 total points)
 
McDonald is 108 points shy of 1,000 points scored in her career (892 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)

Artise

• Ranks Number 22 in Division II in 3-Pt Fg Pct (0.426)

Wagner

• Ranks Number 15 in Division II in Assist/Turnover Ratio (2.333)

 
 
Statistics as of 01/05/15