AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team came up short in their final scheduled home game of the 2018-19 season on Saturday afternoon, falling 79-66 to the Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia. Before the game, the Gyrenes honored their lone senior, Katie Houbolt, for her contributions to the AMU program.
Coastal Georgia got off to a fast start on Saturday, jumping out to a pair of nine-point leads in the opening ten minutes. The Mariners led the Gyrenes by scores of 18-9 and 23-14 during the first quarter, which was powered by six field goals from Brianna Gipson. The Gyrenes were able to get back within six points, 23-17, at the end of the quarter, thanks to three free throws from Sarah Miller.
The Mariners widened their lead in the second quarter, outscoring the Gyrenes 23-16 to take a 46-33 lead at halftime. Coastal Georgia led by as many as 15 points in the second frame, which saw post players Quira Porter and Ayshia Baker combine for 15 of the team's 23 points. For the second quarter in a row, the Gyrenes scored the final basket of the frame, cutting the Coastal lead to 13 on a Miller layup.
Despite trailing by as many as 14 points, the Gyrenes rallied in the third quarter to cut the Mariner lead to four. The initial run came early in the quarter, when a pair of Taylor Allen threes keyed a 12-2 run that trimmed a 49-35 lead down to 51-47. Coastal was able to build the lead back up to nine points, but Ave closed the quarter on a 5-0 run via a Miller and-one and a Danielle Weinmann layup, cutting the lead back to 61-57 with ten minutes to play.
In the fourth quarter, the Gyrenes were as close as three points with as little as 3:13 to go, trailing 69-66 after a Weinmann layup. However, AMU missed their final six shots and the Mariners scored the final ten points of the game to secure a 13-point win on the road. Coastal Georgia made five of their six free throws in the final quarter to put the game away.
Miller led the Ave Maria effort with 22 points and 12 rebounds, a total that gave Miller the Ave Maria single season rebounding record. Three other Gyrenes were in double figures in Houbolt (11), Weinmann (10), and Allen (10). Gipson led all scorers, scoring 24 points and pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds. Baker and Lynsey Washington added 16 points each in the win for Coastal Georgia.
With two games to play in the regular season, the Gyrenes sit at 10-6 and fourth place in Sun Conference play. Ave Maria will play St. Thomas and Florida Memorial in the final week of the season, and could finish anywhere from third to fifth in the league. The first game is Thursday in Miami Gardens against St. Thomas, with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
