AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball staked an early claim as the best team in The Sun Conference on Thursday, defeating the league's only other unbeaten, the St. Thomas Bobcats, in overtime at Donahue Gym. The 73-71 victory moved the Gyrenes to 5-0 in SUN play, one game in the loss column ahead of both St. Thomas and Florida Memorial.

Thursday's game got off to a fast start, as the 38 points scored in the opening ten minutes proved to be the highest scoring total of the night. It was the Gyrenes that got the better of the exchange, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field to jump out to a 23-15 lead. AMU made three of their five long distance attempts, helping to build the early lead.

The early offense was replaced by a defensive slugfest in the second quarter. Ave Maria made just one field goal in the second, but added six free throws to remain ahead at halftime. After the Bobcats pulled even at 29 on a Brooke Bogatz jumper, Monica Behrend made two free throws on AMU's final possession of the half to send the Gyrenes to the break with a two-point lead, 31-29. 

Neither team gathered much momentum in the third quarter, as the score never grew past a three-point lead for either squad. St. Thomas outscored Ave Maria by four points in the frame following halftime, eventually taking a two-point lead, 49-47, into the fourth quarter following a jumper from Maya Moye in the final ten seconds of the quarter.

St. Thomas looked to have control of the game early in the fourth quarter, starting the frame on a 12-4 run to take the game's biggest lead, 61-51. Ave Maria responded with a 13-0 run, keeping the Bobcats off the scoreboard for almost four and a half minutes. However, the Bobcats were able to tie the game in the final minute, and chances from both teams to win the game in the final ten seconds failed, sending the contest to overtime.

In overtime, Ave Maria never trailed, although the AMU lead never grew larger than three points. The game was tied with less than 40 seconds to go when Grace Field connected on a baseline jumper, putting the Gyrenes up, 72-70. St. Thomas made one of two free throws on the other end, and Gianna Santacroce did the same with 13 seconds to go. St. Thomas had two three-point attempts to win the game in the final ten seconds, but both missed.

Grace Field had another gargantuan performance for the Gyrenes, posting her second 20 point, 20 rebound effort of the season with 22 points and 20 rebounds. Casey Humphrey added 20 points for Ave Maria, including four key three-pointers. As usual, the remainder of Ave Maria's scoring was balanced, with eight players scoring between two and seven points.

Ave Maria will defend their top spot in The Sun Conference immediately, taking on second place Florida Memorial on the road on Saturday. FMU defeated Southeatern on Thursday, moving to 5-1 in SUN play. The battle for first place in Miami Gardens is set to tip off Saturday at 2 p.m. in Miami Gardens.