AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team took the top team in The Sun Conference to the limit on Thursday, but fell just short of an upset in a 70-64 defeat at the hands of the Florida Memorial University Lions at Donahue Gym. The Gyrenes and Lions were tied heading into the fourth quarter, but FMU made more plays in the final ten minutes. Each of Ave Maria's last five losses have been by eight points or fewer, dropping AMU's record to 16-9 overall.

The Gyrenes came out motivated on their home court, and raced out to two different seven-point leads in the first quarter. Abbey Phibbs and Grace Field found the holes in Florida Memorial's zone defense, combining for 13 of the team's 17 points in the opening frame. AMU held leads of 13-6 and 15-8 in the opening frame, but Florida Memorial was able to trim the lead down to 17-14, scoring six of the final eight points of the first quarter. 

Florida Memorial would score the first five points of the second quarter to take a 19-17 lead, but neither team was able to grab much momentum from there. The lead changed hands six times in the eight minutes before halftime, with neither squad leading by more than one possession. The Gyrenes got the ball last in the half, as a steal from Field led to a layup from Phibbs, evening the score at 30 heading into the halftime break. 

It proved to be more of the same in the third quarter, as the score once again switched hands several times without either side putting together a major run. Just as it did at the end of the second quarter, the score would remain tied at the end of the third. Neither team made a field goal in the final two and a half minutes of the third quarter, sending the game to the fourth even at 48.

The game remained close early in the fourth quarter, with the score tied at 56 with four minutes to play. From there, FMU finally came up with the big run that had evaded both teams, scoring on five consecutive possessions as part of a 10-2 run. Ave Maria got that eight-point lead down to four with under 30 seconds to play and had the ball with a chance to cut it to one or two, but a turnover ended their chances of a comeback.

Grace Field continued her remarkable season in a losing effort, scoring 17 points with 23 rebounds. Her rebounding total was the third best in a single game in program history, and second best in a Sun Conference game. Casey Humphrey also chipped in with 17 points, while both Emily Rapacz and Abbey Phibbs added eleven points. Rapacz's 11 points came with ten rebounds, the second double-double of the season for the sophomore.

Despite the loss, the Gyrenes remain in fourth place in The Sun Conference with three games to play, a slot that would provide Ave Maria a home game in the first round of the SUN Tournament. AMU will look to take another step towards that home game on Saturday, when another of the SUN's best teams await. Ave Maria heads across Alligator Alley for a meeting with St. Thomas University, with tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m. AMU won the first meeting between the teams, 73-71, in Ave Maria in early January.