AVE MARIA, Fla. --- Annie Artise scored 24 points and Lauren Gillingham notched her second double-double of the season to lead the Ave Maria women's basketball team past Thomas, 70-57. Trailing by six at the half, AMU outscored Thomas 47-28 in the second half to come away with the win.
 
The Blue and Green improve to 8-9 overall and to 2-6 in Sun Conference play while Thomas falls to 8-9 on to 3-4 in TSC contests.
 
Artise finished with 24 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Gillingham had 16 points and 10 rebounds. She was 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Taylor Lindsey added 14 points while Katie Houbolt recorded 12 points.
 
The Lady Gyrenes shot 37.3 percent from the field and were 21-of-24 from the free throw line. Thomas was 24-of-64 for the game from the field and were 6-of-14 from the free throw line.
 
Taron Bright led Thomas with 15 points. Bra'shey Ali added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Nighthawks.
 
Ave Maria jumped out to the early lead in the opening quarter before a 9-2 run over the final five and a half minutes gave Thomas a 13-10 lead after 10 minutes. The Nighthawks extended their lead to eight at the seven minute mark of the second quarter, their largest lead of the half. AMU was able to chip away at the TU lead but a basket as the half expired gave Thomas a 29-23 lead going into the break.
 
Still trailing by six midway through the quarter, Artsie scored seven straight points for pull AMU within one, 36-35, and with four minutes to play Gillingham made a layup to give the Lady Gyrenes a one-point edge. Leading by as many as seven, the Blue and Green went to the fourth quarter leading by three, 43-40. Ave Maria shot 58 percent, 7-of-12, in the final quarter and made all 12 of their attempts from the free throw line to pull away from Thomas.
 
The Lady Gyrenes return to action on Tuesday when they travel to St. Thomas for a conference matchup. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m.