BRUNSWICK, Ga.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team suffered another close loss on Thursday, falling 56-54 to the Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick. The two-point loss marked the ninth game decided by eight points or fewer in Ave Maria's last ten contests. Unfortunately, the Gyrenes are just 4-5 in those nine contests, including four consecutive conference losses by a total of 21 points.
Both teams started slowly on Thursday night, with just two made field goals in the first four minutes of the game. Ave Maria started the game with the first five points, but Coastal Georgia answered with a 7-1 run to take their first lead of the night. The lead would change hands once more before the end of the quarter, before finally concluding with the teams even at eleven after the opening ten minutes of play.
The second quarter proved to be the evening's best for the Gyrenes, who outscored Coastal Georgia by an 18-14 margin to take a lead into halftime. Ave Maria outscored the Mariners 10-4 in the first four minutes of the second quarter to open up a six-point lead, their largest to that point. AMU would not relinquish that lead for the remainder of the half, holding a 29-25 lead as the teams entered the locker room.
Coastal Georgia surged out of the halftime break, going on a 6-1 run to reclaim the lead just two and a half minutes into the third quarter. Ave Maria righted the ship from there, outscoring the Mariners 11-6 for the rest of the quarter to build their lead back to four points heading into the fourth. Grace Field played a major role for the Gyrenes in the third, scoring seven of the team's 12 points.
After trailing 45-39 with 7:23 remaining, Coastal Georgia with ten unanswered points to take a 49-45 lead with 4:37 on the clock. AMU responded with four straight points to tie the game, but Coastal Georgia answered back, taking the lead for good. Ave Maria did have a golden opportunity to send the game into overtime, but the Gyrenes missed two straight free throws with three seconds left, allowing the Mariners to escape with the two-point win.
Grace Field posted her 13th double-double of the season, scoring eleven points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Casey Humphrey was the only other Gyrene in double figures, evening Field's total with eleven points of her own. Mckenzi Lyons and Monica Behrend followed with eight points each. As a team, Ave Maria shot just 32.8 percent from the field, and missed seven of their 15 free throw attempts.
Ave Maria will have another chance to snap their current skid on Saturday, when the Gyrenes head to Thomasville for a meeting with the Thomas University Night Hawks. The Gyrenes were victorious in the first meeting between the teams, winning 71-52 at Donahue Gym in November. Tipoff from Thomasville is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
