BABSON PARK, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team held off a late charge from Webber International University on Thursday evening, and claimed a 67-63 victory over the Warriors in Babson Park. The victory moved Ave Maria to 7-3 in Sun Conference play, good for fourth place in the league.

For the majority of the first quarter, the two teams stayed within one possession of one another. The first run of the game belonged to the Gyrenes, who strung together three layups to go on a 6-1 run and take a six-point lead. Webber responded by scoring the last five points of the quarter on an Eletra Graham three-pointer and a Breyonna Reed layup, cutting AMU's lead at the end of the frame to 13-12.

A bigger run increased Ave Maria's lead in the second quarter, as the Gyrenes outscored the Warriors 14-2 in the first five minutes of the frame. That run powered AMU to a 27-14 lead, their biggest of the first half. Webber again responded, this time by scoring seven unanswered points to trim the Gyrene lead down to six. A three-pointer from Katie Houbolt and a free throw from WIU's Taniya Patrick accounted for the final points of the half, with Ave leading 30-22 after 20 minutes. 

Ave Maria's first half lead was led by their efforts on the glass, with the Gyrenes holding a 26-15 rebounding edge. The Gyrenes presented a balanced offensive attack, as eight different player scored and no player recorded more than six points. Webber presented a similar statline, with two players scoring six points and six others scoring either one or two.

Once again, the Gyrenes extended their lead in the third quarter, claiming an edge as large as 17 points. The biggest surge of the quarter for AMU started after a Webber layup cut the lead to seven points. From there, AMU went on a 14-4 run to stretch the lead to 17, 47-30. The Warriors would battle back to within 13 points, 52-39, at the end of quarter, thanks to a layup at the buzzer from Emmarie Carmen.

Webber roared back in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 59 with 2:31 to play. AMU took the lead back on a Syanne Rowe layup with 2:03 left, and stretched the lead to four on another Rowe layup with 28 seconds left. Rowe also came up with the biggest play of the game, rebounding a missed AMU free throw with seven seconds left, and making two free throws to seal the victory.

Rowe posted the biggest game of her Gyrene career, making seven of nine shots en route to 16 points and seven rebounds. Rowe's 16 points eclipsed her previous career high of ten. Danielle Weinmann was the only other Gyrene in double figures, scoring eleven points. Three Warriors were in double figures, led by 13 points from Paris Copeland.

The now 16-4 Gyrenes will return home on Saturday for another conference matchup, with the Warner University Royals coming to town. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.