THOMASVILLE, Ga.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team held off the Thomas University Night Hawks on Saturday afternoon, and earned their fifth conference win with a 64-60 triumph on the road. The Gyrenes led by ten at the half and never trailed in the second half to move to 5-2 in Sun Conference action.
Ave Maria used a 8-0 run in the opening quarter to jump out to a lead after the first ten minutes. After each team started the game with five points in the first three minutes, the Gyrenes scored eight unanswered points to take a 13-5 lead. Six of those eight points came in the paint, and AMU would maintain the lead throughout the remainder of the frame, leading 14-10 at the end of the first.
Another run helped the Gyrenes extend their lead in the second quarter. The Night Hawks pulled within two with 8:02 in the half, but were never able to tie the game or take the lead. Ave Maria's run started after Thomas cut the lead to three, 20-17, with 6:37 to play. From that point, AMU outscored the Night Hawks 11-2 to extend their lead to 31-19. Thomas would score the final points of the half to account for a 31-21 margin at halftime.
Once again, Ave Maria extended their lead with a major run, this time of the 11-1 variety. After the Night Hawks cut the Gyrene lead to six points with 5:44 remaining in the quarter, the Night Hawks could manage only a free throw over the next four and a half minutes, as AMU roared out to a 48-32 lead. Thomas responded with an 8-0 run of their own to close the quarter, and trailed AMU 48-40 with ten minutes to play.
Thomas tried to rally in the fourth quarter, coming within one point with 2:38 to play, and again with 2:09 to play. A go-ahead three-pointer missed with 1:23 left, and a free throw from Emily Acosta extended the AMU lead to two. The Gyrenes made another free throw after a Thomas miss, and a game-tying three with nine seconds left was rebounded by Katie Houbolt, who sealed the victory with a free throw with six seconds remaining.
Sarah Miller led the Gyrenes with 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting, and pulled down 12 rebounds to account for another double-double. Amanda Kasprzak was the only other Gyrene in double figures, scoring ten points and knocking down all four of her free throws. Micah Garvin was the top scorer for Thomas, logging 21 points.
Ave Maria now enters a crucial week, with home conference games against Florida Memorial and St. Thomas on the docket. The task begins with Florida Memorial on Thursday, with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Tom Golisano Field House. FMU enters 7-0 in conference play, while the Gyrenes come in at 5-2.
