WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's basketball team went ice cold in the final game of the season, falling 43-39 to the Keiser University Seahawks Saturday in West Palm Beach. The defeat denied Ave Maria a chance to host a game in The Sun Conference Tournament for the first time since 2019, and set up a rematch between the teams on Tuesday.
Keiser held the advantage for much of the first quarter, holding AMU to just two made field goals in the first eight minutes. Ave Maria did score on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at nine at the end of the first. In the second, AMU would take their first lead of the day at 15-13, but the Seahawks then proceeded to finish the half on a 15-2 run, including a 10-0 run in the first two minutes before the break. Keiser's surge would prove to be the difference in the game, and gave the Seahawks a 28-17 halftime lead.
AMU twice got the Keiser lead down to five points in the third quarter, but the Seahawks had an answer both times, pushing their lead back to at least nine points each time, including a 39-30 lead when the third quarter came to an end. Ave Maria held Keiser to just four points in the fourth quarter, but could not close the gap. The Gyrenes had a chance to tie the game in the final 30 seconds, but a missed three-pointer snuffed out the AMU hopes.
Ave Maria's main woe in the loss to Keiser was their shooting. The Gyrenes shot just 24.6 percent from the field, and missed all 18 of their three-point attempts. AMU was especially ice cold in the fourth quarter, as the Gyrenes missed 16 of their 18 shots, including six three-pointers. What kept the Gyrenes in the game was their defense, as AMU forced 21 Keiser turnovers, which turned into 22 of the team's 39 points. The AMU defense held Keiser to just 15 made field goals and a 30.6 percentage from the field.
Three Gyrenes were responsible for 33 of Ave Maria's 39 points. Grace Field moved her season double-double total to 19 with 14 points and eleven rebounds. Field also recorded seven steals in the losing effort, one shy of the program record for a single game. Mckenzi Lyons added ten points and six rebounds off the bench, and AMU's leading trio was rounded out by Casey Humphrey, who finished the afternoon with nine points.
Luckily for the Gyrenes, a shot at vengeance comes just over 72 hours after the final buzzer sounded Saturday. For the second year in a row, Ave Maria and Keiser will meet in the quarterfinals of The Sun Conference Tournament. Last season, in the same scenario, the Gyrenes marched into West Palm Beach and won 48-44. This season's matchup is slated for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff on Tuesday, with the winner facing regular season champion Florida Memorial on Friday in the semifinal round.
