BABSON PARK, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team returned to the floor on Thursday evening, facing the Webber International University Warriors for the second time this season. In their first game in nearly three weeks, the Gyrenes dropped a 67-57 decision to the Warriors at the Sabbagh Athletic Center. Ave Maria was doomed by 28 turnovers in their second meeting with Webber, which tipped the scales to the Warriors despite a 39-36 rebounding advantage for AMU.

Ave Maria started well on Thursday night, taking an early 9-5 lead in the first four and a half minutes of action. Webber would answer with a 14-4 run over the next five minutes, building a six-point lead of 19-13. The final score of the quarter would belong to the Gyrenes, though, as Taylor Lopez knocked down a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to cut the Webber lead down to 19-16 after ten minutes.

The second quarter was the only quarter decided by more than three points, as the Warriors outscored Ave Maria 14-8. That stretch included an 11-2 Warrior run, where the Gyrenes were unable to connect from the field for a span of almost nine minutes. A Syanne Rowe layup and a free throw from Danielle Domino allowed the Gyrenes to cut the lead to nine entering the break.

Both teams had their highest scoring quarter in the third - Webber scored 20 points, and the Gyrenes scored 19. The Warriors built their lead to 20 points with 5:41 remaining in the quarter, but AMU responded with 15-0 run, which was powered by three three-pointers - two from Lopez and one from Domino. The Warriors answered with seven unanswered points to push the lead back to 12, and took a 53-43 lead into the fourth quarter.

Webber saw their lead trimmed to four points with 5:46 remaining, following two free throws from AMU's Monica Behrend. From that point on, Webber concluded the game by outscoring the Gyrenes, 14-8. The run included eight unanswered points from WIU, extending the lead from five to 13 points to essentially put the game away.

A double-double off the bench from Cathreveny Cherestal led the Gyrenes, as the freshman scored 14 points and added eleven rebounds. Lopez knocked down four three-pointers for the Gyrenes, adding 12 points to the AMU total. Nearly half of Ave Maria's points in the losing effort (28 of 57) were logged by bench players. Also in double figures was Syanne Rowe, who narrowly missed out on a double-double with ten points and eight rebounds. Webber was led by Eletra Graham, who scored a game-high 18 points.

On Saturday, the Gyrenes will remain on the road and head to Miami Gardens for a meeting with the Florida Memorial University Lions. It is the second of three meetings between the school this season, with the first a 83-69 FMU win on November 18, and the third scheduled for February 4 in Miami Gardens. Tipoff between AMU and FMU is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.