BRUNSWICK, Ga.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team earned a huge Sun Conference victory on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia 81-70 in The Sun Conference's Game of the Week. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for the Gyrenes in the series, and marked AMU's first win in Brunswick since February 10, 2018.

Coastal Georgia started fast on their home floor, holding three seperate seven-point leads in the opening quarter. The last of those leads, 19-12, was erased in the final 90 seconds of the quarter. Three-pointers by Monica Behrend and Nuria Castillo, as well as three free throws from Catie Reszel, allowed the Gyrenes to end the frame on a 9-0 run and gave Ave Maria a 21-19 lead after ten minutes.

After a jumper from Sonia Forney 17 seconds into the quarter tied the score at 21, the Gyrenes did not surrender the lead for the remainder of the first half. The lead grew as large as seven points, 39-32, following a three-pointer from Lavariah Armstead with 2:13 on the clock. Armstead also scored the final bucket of the first half, hitting a jumper with ten seconds left to send the Gyrenes to halftime with a 43-37 lead. 

Ave Maria's lead grew to eleven early in the third quarter, but Coastal Georgia had an answer. The Mariners went on a 17-4 run, ending with a layup from San Graddic that gave Coastal Georgia a 60-58. Despite starting five freshmen, the Gyrenes showed remarkable poise to withstand Coastal's run, ending the third quarter on a 7-0 run of their own to take a 65-60 lead into the fourth quarter. 

The Gyrenes pulled away from Coastal in the fourth quarter to secure their second straight conference win. After the Mariners had cut the Ave Maria lead to 67-64, the Gyrenes essentially put the game away with a 10-2 run that stretched the lead to eleven points with 4:27 on the clock. The Mariners never again got any closer than nine points as the Gyrenes finished off a sweep of their two games in Georgia.  

Lavariah Armstead had another solid outing for the Gyrenes, scoring 23 points and pulling down five rebounds. Casey Humphrey followed with 13 points, while Gianna Santacroce and Colleen Shanahan were both in double-double territory. Santacroce had eleven points with eight rebounds, while Shanahan, who had 19 rebounds on Thursday, added eight more to go with ten points.

AMU now takes a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, but will return to action on Monday, November 29. The Gyrenes will face off with the Tigers of Edward Waters University, who currently hold a 5-1 record. Tipoff in Jacksonville, one of two games for the Gyrenes in Duval County in the week following Thanksgiving, is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.