AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team got back in the win column on Saturday afternoon with a 73-59 victory over the Thomas University Night Hawks at the Tom Golisano Field House. The Gyrenes never trailed in the conference victory, and withstood a late charge from the visiting Night Hawks to move to 7-4 in league play.
AMU's defensive effort was at the forefront in the opening minutes of the contest, as the Night Hawks were kept off the board for over six minutes. The Gyrenes scored the first nine points of the game, but Thomas was able to answer with an 11-2 run, tying the game at eleven just under three minutes later. Ave Maria fired back with seven points of their own in the final two minutes, and opened up an 18-13 lead after the first ten minutes of action.
The second quarter was all Ave Maria, with the Gyrenes outscoring the Night Hawks 28-14 to take a 46-27 lead into the halftime break. In the final six minutes of the half, Ave Maria went on a 14-5 run to extend a ten-point lead into nineteen. During the run, Sarah Miller scored on three consecutive possessions for the Gyrenes, part of her team-high 17 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Despite outscoring the Gyrenes in the third quarter, the Night Hawks were only able to get as close as 13 points. AMU stretched their lead to 22 with 5:15 on the clock after five consecutive points from Taylor Allen. Thomas scored five points in a row to cut an 18-point lead to 13 with 1:57 left in the quarter, but an Amanda Kasprzak free throw extended Ave Maria's lead to 54-40 heading into the final quarter of action.
An even fourth quarter saw Thomas get as close as nine points before the Gyrenes put the game away in the final minutes. A layup from Emiah Downie cut the Ave Maria lead to 61-52 with 2:34 to play, but an and-one from Miller immediately pushed the advantage back to 12 points. Including Miller's and-one, the Gyrenes made seven consecutive free throws down the stretch, making up the majority of a 9-for-11 mark from the charity stripe in the fourth.
Once again, Miller posted a double-double for the Gyrenes with 25 points and ten rebounds, both game highs. Taylor Allen was also in double figures with 14 points, while her sister Megan made four of her six shots to chip in with ten off the bench. Thomas' leading scorer also came off the bench, as Downie went 6-for-8 from the field en route to a 17-point performance.
Ave Maria can take a major step toward clinching their third consecutive berth in The Sun Conference Tournament next week, as games against Florida Memorial and St. Thomas await. The Lions and Bobcats are currently tied for sixth in the conference, and a sweep would cut AMU's magic number for a postseason berth down to one. The week starts with Florida Memorial on Thursday, and concludes with St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon.
