Naples Standard

The Ave Maria University women's basketball team ran their winning streak to seven games on Monday night, thanks to an 85-59 victory over the visiting Voorhees College Tigers at Donahue Gym. Ave Maria outscored the Tigers in each of the final three quarters to pull away from the visitors from South Carolina, moving the Gyrenes to 9-1 on the season. 

The Gyrenes got off to a cold start, making just two of their first nine shots as Voorhees built an early 10-4 lead. AMU finally got going in the later stages of the opening frame, going on a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the game, 14-12, with 1:54 remaining in the first. The teams would trade baskets in the final 93 seconds of the quarter, culminating with an and-one from Voorhees' Aubrey Callum giving the Tigers a 17-16 lead.

After the slow start, the Gyrenes began to assert themselves in the second quarter, which saw the Gyrenes take a lead they would never relinquish with an 8-0 run in the first three minutes of the frame. Ave Maria outscored the Tigers 24-7 in the second, powered by a dominant effort on the glass. AMU rebounded ten of their 14 misses, and forced seven Voorhees turnovers en route to taking a 40-24 lead into the halftime break.

Monday's second half was mostly uneventful, with the Gyrene lead growing in the third quarter thanks to a 20-11 edge coming out of halftime. Voorhees made just four of their 18 shots in the third, allowing the Gyrenes to completely put the game away. The fourth quarter, which saw the Gyrenes empty the bench, was the highest scoring frame of the day for both teams, as Ave Maria scored 26 points and Voorhees responded with 25. 

Ave Maria's biggest advantage in the victory came on the glass. The Gyrenes pulled down 69 total rebounds, the second highest single-game total in program history. Of those 69 rebounds, 30 came on the offensive glass, another top-five mark in program history. Those 30 offensive rebounds turned into 36 second chance points, a category in which the Gyrenes outscored the Tigers by a 36-5 margin.

Grace Field had a monster performance for the Gyrenes, scoring 23 points on 9-for-10 shooting and pulling down 20 rebounds. The New York native became just the second player in Ave Maria history to record a game with 20 points and 20 rebounds, joining former All-American Sarah Miller, who hit the milestone on three occasions. Lavariah Armstead was also in double figures for the Gyrenes, scoring eleven points.

The victory began a stretch of four home games for the Gyrenes before the Christmas holiday. The second of these games comes Saturday at Donahue Gym, when Ave Maria plays host to the Suns of Johnson University. The Gyrenes have dominated the series against the Suns, winning all seven games played between the two schools over the past four seasons by an average of 37.6 points. Tipoff between Ave Maria and Johnson is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. 

Original source can be found here.