WINTER HAVEN, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team earned a split of the Sun Conference/Southern States Challenge on Friday, emerging with a 71-51 victory over the Knights of Middle Georgia on the campus of Polk State College. The Gyrenes bounced back nicely from their first defeat of the season, outscoring Middle Georgia in all four quarters and never trailing in their second win of the 2023-24 season.
After a disappointing loss on Thursday, the Gyrenes came out of the gate with something to prove. Ave Maria roared out to a 17-7 lead in the game's first seven minutes, a surge that included a 12-2 Gyrene run. Middle Georgia withstood that early onslaught, and outscored the Gyrenes 12-2 over the final three minutes of the quarter to cut the AMU lead to 19-17 at the end of the first.
Ave Maria turned up the pressure defensively in the second quarter, allowing the Knights to score just eight points over ten minutes. Middle Georgia made just three of their 14 field goal attempts, as the Gyrenes widened their lead to 35-25 at the break. AMU's lead widened to ten just before halftime, when Elena Barnes ripped a rebound away from a Middle Georgia player and laid it in, perhaps best personifying AMU's defensive energy in the second.
That momentum carried into the third quarter, where the Gyrenes forced ten Middle Georgia turnovers and had their highest-scoring quarter of the day. Ave Maria made eight of their 15 field goal attempts, with seven different players combining to score 22 points. The Gyrenes led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, and took a 57-42 lead into the final frame.
Middle Georgia tried to make a game of it in the fourth quarter, cutting Ave Maria's lead to ten with 4:12 to go. However, the Gyrenes closed strong, keeping the Knights off the scoreboard for the remainder of the contest and adding ten more points to finish off the 20-point victory. Gianna Santacroce supplied five of these points, including a three-pointer with 2:57 to go that ended any thoughts of a Middle Georgia comeback.
Maria Kuhlman led the Gyrenes with 14 points off the bench, while both Santacroce and Emily Rapacz scored 13. All three Gyrenes shot at least 50 percent from the field, and the trio combined to go 11-for-11 from the free throw line. Rapacz narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine rebounds, a team high. As a group, Ave Maria forced 28 Middle Georgia turnovers, which turned into 25 points for the Gyrenes.
This week's games in Winter Haven marked the first of an eight-game road trip for the Gyrenes, which continues with three games next week in Oklahoma and Texas. The Gyrenes will face their biggest test of the season to date on Wednesday, when Ave Maria plays the 19th-ranked team in the nation, Mid-America Christian from Oklahoma. Tipoff of that contest in Oklahoma City is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
