NORTH MIAMI, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team pushed their record back above .500 Wednesday night, blowing out the Eagles of the University of Fort Lauderdale, 90-49, in North Miami. The Gyrene win finished off a season sweep of the Eagles, following an 82-54 victory at Donahue Gym last month. The Gyrenes are 4-0 over the past two seasons against Fort Lauderdale, winning the games by an average of 29 points.
Ave Maria was never challenged by the Eagles, opening up a 15-2 lead in the opening moments of the contest and never looking back. The Gyrenes outscored the Eagles in each of the four quarters Wednesday night, including scoring a game-high 28 points in the third quarter. Fort Lauderdale never managed more than 15 points in a quarter, as the Gyrenes ensured UFTL could never threaten AMU.
As a team, the Gyrenes shot 56.4 percent from the field, making 31 of their 55 field goal attempts. Defensively, AMU forced 26 misses on 42 shots from the Eagles, holding the hosts under 40 percent from the field. Ave Maria also shot the three-pointer well in the victory, knocking down eight treys on eleven attempts.
Gianna Santacroce led the way for the Gyrenes with 17 points, including 15 points from beyond the three-point arc. Colleen Shanahan was close behind her fellow junior, scoring 16 points with a team-high six rebounds. The other Gyrene in double figures was a third junior, Vari Armstead, who made five of her nine shots to finish with ten points. Armstead also dished out four assists, as the Gyrenes finished the contest with 19 assists on 31 makes.
Ave Maria's next two games on the schedule will be exhibition contests against NCAA opponents. The first of these will come Sunday afternoon, when the Gyrenes battle the Embry-Riddle Eagles in Daytona Beach. The second game is set for November 29, which will see AMU take on one of the top mid-majors in college basketball, the FGCU Eagles. The Gyrenes' next countable game will come on December 13, a meeting with former Sun Conference foe Thomas University at Donahue Gym.
