AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria women's lacrosse team fell to seventh-ranked Siena Heights 16-12 on Thursday afternoon at Gyrene Field. Senior Katelyn Sherman led the Gyrenes with six goals and two assists on the night.
 
Ave Maria got off to a quick start and led 3-1 in the early minutes of the game on goals by Emma Davis, Sherman and Stephanie Hilker. After two straight goals by the Saints, Sherman scored her second goal of the game to put the Gyrenes in front 4-3 with 17:29 to play in the opening half.
 
The Saints then went on a pair of four goal runs with a Sherman goal in between to extend their lead to 11-5. Just before the half, Amanda Spurlin scored off a pass from Sherman to make it 11-6 at the break.
 
Sherman and Karina Shaffrey each netted goals in the first ten minutes of the second half to make the score 12-8. Alexis Nichole scored two-straight goals for Siena Heights to put the Saints up 14-8. The Gyrenes then went on a 4-1 run to close to within three, 15-12, with 6:34 to play. The AMU goals were by Isabella Pinsonault, Spurlin, and a pair of goals by Sherman. The Saints added a goal with less than two minutes to play to put the game out of reach for AMU.
 
Sherman led AMU with six goals and two assists. Spurlin added two goals while four other Gyrenes found the back of the net once. Six Gyrenes had at least five ground balls. Haley Estes led AMU with seven caused turnovers. Sherman, Calena Carabelli, and Emma Davis each had three draw controls.
 
Siena Heights Alexis Nichole led both teams with eight goals.
 
Kaylee Wesolowski took the loss in net. She made 10 saves and had a team-best six ground balls.
 
Both team finished with 32 shots but Siena Heights held a 26-23 edge in shots on goal. The Saints committed six more turnovers and the Gyrenes had a 42-38 advantage in ground balls. Siena Heights had a 19-11 edge in draw controls.
 
The Gyrenes return to action on Monday when they host Franciscan (Ohio) at 3 p.m. at Gyrene Field.