ST. CATHARINE, Fla. --- Trailing by as many as 20 early in the third quarter, the Ave Maria women's basketball team rallied to pull within three late in the fourth but weren't able to get any closer, eventually falling at St. Catharine, 67-61. The Lady Gyrenes get a rematch with the Patriots tomorrow at 1 p.m.
 
Annie Artise led the Blue and Green with 21 points and seven rebounds. Jasmine Bateman tallied 16 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals while Taylor Lindsey added 12 points. Lauren Gillingham collected a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
St. Catharine came out firing in the opening quarter to jump out to an early lead on the Lady Gyrenes. The Patriots made 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from the field in the first quarter including three from behind the arc to take a 23-11 lead. Shots continued to fall for St. Catharine in the second quarter as they improved to 60 percent from the field in the quarter (9-of-15) to go into the break leading AMU 45-25.
 
Things started to go AMU's was in the third quarter, trailing 50-32, the Lady Gyrenes went on a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to seven, 54-47. The Blue and Green got treys from Kandice Smith, Artise and Lindsey during the run that spanned nearly five minutes.
 
In the fourth quarter, an old-fashioned three-point play by Gillingham brought AMU within five, 57-52, with 8:07 to play. The teams exchanged buckets over the next couple minutes before another and-one play, this time from Lindsey, made it 61-57 St. Catharine. Over the final few minutes, the Lady Gyrenes were able to get some stops on defense but weren't able to get the baskets to fall on the offensive side. St. Catharine was able to make enough free throws down the stretch to hold of the AMU rally, 67-61.
 
AMU shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field and made six of 21 attempts from three. The Lady Gyrenes were a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. St. Catharine finished 25-for-52 (48.1 percent) from the field and made six from behind the arc. The Patriots were 11-of-19 from the charity stripe.
 
Ave Maria and St. Catharine will meet again on Saturday afternoon. The game will tip-off at 1 p.m.