AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team dropped their last game of November on Wednesday evening, losing 83-69 at the hands of the Florida Memorial University Lions. The Gyrenes drop to 0-2 in Sun Conference play, but will have more than two weeks to prepare for their next contest, which will come after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Ave Maria started well in their second conference game of the season, taking leads of 14-6 and 16-8 during the first quarter. The Lions roared back, though, closing the quarter on a 10-0 run that turned AMU's eight-point lead into an 18-16 advantage for Florida Memorial. The Lions used a pair of three-pointers, one from Destiny Martin and one from Unique Tate, to quickly close the gap.
The Lions extended their lead in the second quarter, taking a 36-31 advantage into the halftime break. The Gyrenes were able to score the first four points of the quarter to re-take the lead, but Florida Memorial steadied themselves to take a lead as large as seven points. AMU had cut the FMU lead down to three, but a layup from Keaynna Tolbert with eight seconds remaining provided the Lions with their five-point edge after 20 minutes.
Florida Memorial started to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring AMU 23-18 to push their lead to ten points with just ten minutes to play. A three-pointer from Taylor Allen with 3:49 to play pulled Ave Maria within four points, but the Lions answered with eight straight points to build their biggest lead of the game at 12 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Gyrenes were never able to get back within ten points, and the Lions continued to build their lead as high as 20 points. Both teams had their highest-scoring quarters in the final ten minutes - 24 points for the visiting Lions, and 20 for the host Gyrenes.
Two of the biggest advantages for the Lions in the victory came in their second half offense, as well as on the glass. The Lions shot 54.5 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, making 18 of their 33 attempts. Florida Memorial also held a 47-35 advantage in rebounding column, which included 17 offensive rebounds.
Taylor Allen led Ave Maria with 21 points in the losing effort, while three other Gyrenes - Syanne Rowe (14), Hunter Chambers (12), and Catie Reszel (10) - were in double figures. Megan Allen was AMU's leading rebounder with nine. Florida Memorial's Keaynna Tolbert was the game's standout, posting 35 points, 13 rebounds, and six steals.
Next on the schedule for the Gyrenes is Thomas University, but until Thursday, December 3. Ave Maria will have more than two weeks off to prepare for the Night Hawks, and will look to extend the program's seven game winning streak against Thomas. The game against Thomas, which is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff, will be the first of four games in December for AMU, which will close out the 2020 calendar year.
