NORTH MIAMI, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team saw their 2019-20 season come to an end on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of The Sun Conference Tournament. The sixth-seeded Gyrenes could not get past the conference's number three seed, as the Wildcats of Johnson and Wales University claimed a 72-61 victory at the Wildcat Center in North Miami.
Between the two teams, only two field goals were made in the first four minutes of the contest - a three-pointer from Macarena Corral and a layup from Shikal Gillion. JWU opened up a 14-3 lead in the first quarter, but the Gyrenes were able to close the gap. Ave Maria outscored the host Wildcats 9-2 in the final 4:57 of the quarter, cutting Johnson and Wales' lead to four points by holding JWU to just one field goal in that span.
Ave Maria outscored the Wildcats in the second quarter, and entered the halftime break down by just one. The Gyrenes led for much of the second quarter, and had their biggest lead of the night at five points, 22-17. A free throw from Syanne Rowe with 5:30 left in the quarter capped a 19-5 run over a ten-minute span for AMU. Ave Maria held a 31-29 lead with 24 seconds left in the half, but a three-pointer from Tianna Ayulo sent the Wildcats into the locker room with a one-point lead.
The third quarter saw the score remain close, as both teams held leads and neither team led by more than five points. Johnson and Wales took the lead for good with 1:18 left in the quarter on a layup from Ayulo, and took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter. Each of the final four field goals of the third quarter belonged to Miller, and the Gyrenes were held without a point from the field for the final two and a half minutes of the frame.
Johnson and Wales used a 9-0 run to put away the Gyrenes in the fourth quarter. After the Wildcats pushed their lead to eleven, the Gyrenes were unable to get any closer than seven. JWU scored on four of their final five possessions to close out the win, which sends the Wildcats to the conference semifinal contest against Coastal Georgia on Friday afternoon.
In her final game as a Gyrene, Sarah Miller carried the load for Ave Maria. The senior scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds, connecting on nine of her 13 field goal attempts. Fellow senior Macarena Corral hit three three-pointers to account for nine of her eleven points, while senior Amanda Kasprzak narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Tianna Ayulo was the leader for the Wildcats, scoring a game-high 29 points with eight rebounds and seven assists.
The Gyrenes end the 2019-20 season with a 15-14 record, marking their third consecutive winning season. Ave Maria also advanced to the conference tournament for the third consecutive season, and saw Miller break the 1000 point threshold and become the program's all-time leading rebounder.
