MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Ave Maria Women's Basketball team dropped their third game in a row Wednesday night, falling to the St. Thomas Bobcats 60-54. The Gyrenes led for most of the second half, but the Bobcats grabbed the lead midway through the fourth quarter and never gave it back.
The first quarter was very even between the two teams, with seven combined lead changes and one tie. Ava Murphy led the team in the opening frame with two baskets, a layup and a three-pointer. Mary Smith and Gianna Santacroce also hit threes in the opening frame, with Smith's putting AMU on top 16-14, a lead the Gyrenes held for the rest of the quarter.
The Gyrenes stayed in front for most of the second quarter, but the Bobcats grabbed the lead with a little over two minutes left to play in the frame. Both teams scored three points in the final minutes and the Bobcats took a 28-27 lead into the break.
The opening minutes of the third quarter was the best sequence for the Gyrenes all game. Ave Maria opened the quarter with a 12-0 run in the first three minutes of the frame to get up to a 39-28 lead. Their 11-point advantage was the largest of the night for either team. All 12 points were scored off layups with Lavariah Armstead leading the with three buckets.
The lead the Gyrenes built up lasted the whole quarter, but the Bobcats chipped away at it the whole time. After being held scoreless for three minutes, St. Thomas came back to life and outscored Ave Maria 19-8 in the rest of the frame. Ave Maria wound up winning the quarter 20-19, but the scored was tied at 47 heading into the fourth quarter.
The start of the fourth quarter was quiet for both teams. In the opening five minutes, the Bobcats went 0-for-7 from the field while the Gyrenes had just one field goal, a three-pointer from Casey Humphrey. Combined with two free throws, Ave Maria had a five point lead with just five minutes remaining.
Unfortunately, just like the third, the Bobcats found their groove late in the quarter, and stormed back on a 10-0 run to take a 57-52 lead. Ave Maria hit one shot in the final five minutes to get up to 54, but it wasn't enough to get back in the game.
Ella Thompson led the team in scoring with 14 points, her 11
th game this season in double digits. Armstead was the only other Gyrene in double figures with 10 points.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 7-8 in conference play and 11-15 overall. The Gyrenes hold steady onto fifth place in the standings with just one more game before the conference tournament.
The Gyrenes are home Saturday, February 22, for their regular season finale against the Southeastern Fire. It is Senior Day and the Gyrenes will be honoring seven seniors before the game. Senior festivities are planned to start around 1:30 p.m. with tipoff set for 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
