LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team saw a breakthrough season come to an end on Friday evening, as the Gyrenes fell 111-51 to the number one team in the nation, the Southeastern University Fire, at The Furnace in Lakeland. A massive second quarter from the national championship contenders proved to be too much of a hole for the Gyrenes to dig out of.
Ave Maria hung around in the opening ten minutes, trailing by just eight at the end of the first quarter. It took SEU more than three minutes to take their first lead, 3-2, after a Casey Humphrey layup opened the scoring. Perhaps as a precursor to the second quarter, the Fire finished the quarter on a 10-3 run, stretching a 7-6 lead to 17-9 by the end of the frame.
In the second quarter, Southeastern proved why beating the Fire in The Sun Conference over the past near decade has been nearly impossible. The Fire forced ten Gyrene turnovers, and knocked down five of their seven three-point attempts to outscore the Gyrenes 34-5 in the period before halftime. Ave Maria's five points were provided by two layups from Shanahan and Humphrey, as well as an Emily Rapacz free throw.
It was more of the same in the second half, as Southeastern racked up 60 points in the final 20 minutes to punch their ticket to the Sun Conference title game against Webber International on Saturday night. The Fire shot better than 50 percent from the field in both the third and fourth quarters, while the Gyrene offense did come to life with 37 points of their own.
Southeastern, who already possesses some of the best interior play in The Sun Conference, lit it up from deep on Friday night. The Fire made 20 of their 33 three-point attempts, shooting better from long range (60.6 percent) than from the field overall (53.9 percent). Ave Maria shot a comparably modest 34 percent from the field and 35 percent from three-point territory.
Gianna Santacroce was Ave Maria's leading scorer in the finale, knocking down five three-pointers, as well as three free throws, to log 18 points. Colleen Shanahan finished up her freshman season with 12 points and seven rebounds. Southeastern had five players in double figures, including a game-high 22 points from Marta Aranda.
The Gyrenes' 2021-22 season showcased a remarkable turnaround from 2020-21, as Ave Maria went from eight wins and a 5-15 conference mark to 16 wins and a .500 record in the SUN. First-year head coach Alexander Moorehead was named conference Coach of the Year, and the freshman nucleus of first team All-Conference guard Lavariah Armstead, conference All-Tournament team selection Gianna Santacroce, Casey Humphrey, Colleen Shanahan, and Emily Rapacz form a group that will be a force in the league going forward.
