JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team earned their biggest non-conference win of the 2021-22 season on Monday night, knocking off the Tigers of Edward Waters University at the James Weldon Johnson Auxiliary Gym in Jacksonville. The win was Ave Maria's first over an NCAA Division II team in nearly a decade, since the Gyrenes beat Eckerd on November 28, 2012.

The Gyrenes roared out to a 10-point lead in the first four minutes on Monday, scoring the first nine points and building a 12-2 lead less than four minutes in. Edward Waters steadied themselves, responding with a 18-2 run to turn the tide and take a 20-14 lead. Ave Maria got back within three on a three-pointer from Casey Humphrey, cutting the EWU lead to 20-17 at the end of the first quarter. 

Ave Maria had their best quarter in the second, hitting 10 of their 15 shots and outscoring the Tigers 26-18 to take the lead into the halftime break. Trailing by three, 24-21, with 7:47 left in the half, the Gyrenes went on an 11-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to turn the three-point deficit into an eight-point lead. AMU held the lead for the remainder of the half, and led 43-38 at the half. 

AMU again outscored the Tigers in the third quarter by a 14-10 margin, holding the lead throughout the frame. Ave Maria was able to stretch their lead to nine points in the final 100 seconds of the quarter, with two jumpers from Lavariah Armstead and one from Emily Rapacz extending the Gyrenes' lead to 57-48 with ten minutes to play. 

Edward Waters attempted to rally in the fourth quarter, cutting an AMU lead that reached 19 points earlier in the frame down to one point with 1:08 to play. EWU had a chance to take the lead with 51 seconds left, but missed two consecutive free throws. Casey Humphrey was fouled on AMU's next trip down the floor, and made both of her free throws to give the Gyrenes a 77-74 lead.

After the teams traded possessions - a miss from Edward Waters and a turnover from the Gyrenes - the Tigers' final chance to tie the game was missed by Molly Ragle and rebounded by Lavariah Armstead. Armstead made one of her two free throws, which was enough to salt away one of AMU's biggest non-conference wins in recent memory.

Humphrey was Ave Maria's leading scorer in the victory, as the freshman scored 22 points, which included a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul stripe. Armstead and Colleen Shanahan both scored 16 points, while Shanahan pulled down 17 rebounds for a double-double. Rapacz rounded out a quartet of Gyrenes in double figures with eleven points.

The next time Ave Maria takes the floor will be in an exhibition game against NCAA Division I Jacksonville University on Thursday night. The next countable game will be AMU's first home game in nearly a month, which will see the Gyrenes host the Eagles of Trinity Baptist College on Saturday, with tipoff scheduled for 3:00 p.m.