LAKELAND, Fla.- It wasn't easy.

But it's March. It's not supposed to be easy. 

For the first time in ten years, the Ave Maria University women's basketball team will play for a Sun Conference championship in women's basketball, thanks to a 64-56 win over Keiser University in Friday's Sun Conference Tournament semifinals. The Gyrenes built a 22-point first half lead, saw it slip almost all the way away, but had the fortitude to hold off the Seahawks and seal the program's first championship game appearance since 2014.

Early on, it seemed like the Gyrenes were going to cruise into the SUN title game. Ave Maria held Keiser to just three made field goals in the first ten minutes of play, and held a lead as large as 15 points at 19-4. AMU's 19-6 lead at the end of the first was led by a stifling defensive effort, which saw Keiser miss ten of 13 shots, including all five of their long distance tries.

Ave Maria's lead continued to grow for much of the second quarter, getting as large as 22 points. Ave Maria outscored Keiser 19-10 over the first eight and a half minutes of the quarter, getting their lead to 38-16. Keiser did trim the deficit to 18 points with the final four points of the frame, which would prove to be a sign of things to come after halftime.

The momentum of the game shifted drastically in the third quarter, as Keiser mounted a furious comeback. Ave Maria did not score for almost seven minutes in the third, and the Seahawks scored 17 straight points to get within one point, 38-37. Ave Maria did respond well in the final three minutes of the quarter, keeping Keiser off the board (with the exception of one free throw) and growing the lead back to six, 44-38.

With their season hanging in the balance, the Gyrenes found a way to stop Keiser's momentum and finish the job. Keiser trailed by just one on two occasions, and had a chance to take the lead with under two minutes to play before missing a pair of free throws. Katie Ambrose made two key free throws of her own to make it a three-point game with 1:52 to play. Each of the final two times Keiser got within three points, Casey Humphrey responded with points to keep the Seahawks at bay and send the Gyrenes to the title game.

The ever-clutch Humphrey came up big in one of the bigger games of her AMU career, finishing with a game-high 22 points. Maria Kuhlman followed with 17 points, while also pulling down seven rebounds. Colleen Shanahan also played a major role in Ave Maria's win, grabbing 17 rebounds, the most pulled down by any Gyrene in a game this season.

AMU now sits one game away from the program's first Sun Conference title in a decade, but will need to climb one more mountain to do so. Ave Maria will need to beat Southeastern at The Furnace, a feat that hasn't happened in nine years. Tipoff of the Sun Conference Tournament championship game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Lakeland.