AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Women's Basketball team played their final game before Christmas Saturday, falling to the Huntington Foresters 74-66. This was the best game of the week for the Gyrenes, but a couple of missed opportunities in the fourth quarter led to the loss.
The Gyrenes played really well in the first quarter and came out swinging against the Foresters. In the first four games of the week, Ave Maria had fallen into a trap of allowing a long run in the first quarter and not being able to come back. Saturday the Gyrenes flipped the script and went on a big 11-2 run themselves in the final three minutes of the quarter to go up 25-16. Lavariah Armstead led the team with 12 points in the quarter, a season high for points in a frame.
Huntington stormed back in the second quarter, erasing the nine point deficit. After, hitting just two threes in the first quarter, the Foresters dropped four trifectas in the second, with the fourth one tying the game at 33. An HU free throw gave them their first lead since the first quarter, but the Gyrenes responded with a three of their own to take a 38-36 lead into the break.
In the third quarter, Huntington hit two more threes which allowed them to get in front of the Gyrenes by two points at the end of the frame. Both teams had poor shooting in the third quarter, but it was Huntington who was able to grind it out and take the lead.
The Foresters started the fourth quarter with a 14-4 run to get up to a 12-point lead on the Gyrenes. Huntington was 5-for-7 from the field with two three-pointers during the run while the Gyrenes went 1-for-7.
Ave Maria fought their way back into the game and were down two possessions with a little over one minute left. However, a costly turnover led to Huntington milking two seconds off the clock. Casey Humphrey hit a layup to get AMU back within four with 23 seconds left, but the Foresters hit their free throws at the end of the game to secure the win.
The loss drops Ave Maria to 5-7 and ends their week with a record of 0-5 against Midwest teams.
Armstead led the team in scoring with 21 points, tying a season-high for the Gyrenes. Colleen Shanahan was the other Gyrene in double-figures, posting 18 points. Shanahan also led the team in rebounds with 12, recording her second double-double of the season.
The Gyrenes finally get a rest for Christmas after playing five games in seven days. It is not a long break though as Ave Maria is back in action for two more games before the end of the year. Monday, December 30, the Gyrenes are back on the floor for a game against Michigan-Dearborn. The Wolverines are out of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference and have yet to win a game this season, coming in at 0-13. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
