AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Thomas University women's basketball team lost its third consecutive game tonight on the road falling to Sun Conference rival Ave Maria University 79-60.
 
The contest got off to slow start with only 11 points being scored between the two teams in the first five minutes of the game.  Thomas' Ivory Smith broke the early silence for the 2-0 lead with 18:21 after neither squad could connect from the field.  This lack of shooting accuracy prompted a "shift change" of sort for the Lady Night Hawks when head coach Coretta Brown pulled all five starters and put all five bench players in the game with 16:11 left in the first frame.
 
Ave Maria opened an early four point, 8-4, gap in the first five minutes of play heading into the first media timeout of the half. The Lady Gyrenes capped off their 6-0 run to take the 10-4 lead before the Lady Night Hawks responded with their own 6-0 run minutes later to take the 16-14 lead with 9:46 remaining on the clock.
 
Over the next eight minutes, the Lady Gyrenes capitalized on three consecutive turnovers by Thomas to increase their lead to 32-28 heading into the break.
 
After the intermission, Ave Maria opened the second half with a deep three by Lindsey Taylor and continued on a 12-2 run to stretch their lead to 44-32.  The Lady Night Hawks halted the Lady Gyrenes' opening run with a fast-break layup by Briyanna Brantley.
 
Once again, Ave Maria edged forward to make six consecutive baskets to push their lead to 59-45 with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. The Hunter Green and White then began to push the tempo on offense to temporarily cut AMU's lead to nine before the Lady Gyrenes responded with a 7-0 to take the a 67-51 lead with 2:31 remaining.
 
AMU milked the clock down the stretch forcing the Lady Night Hawks to foul to keep the game potentially within reach for a comeback attempt.  However, this failed as the Lady Gyrenes alluded the pressure and knocked down all but two free throws down the stretch.  The Lady Night Hawks, who shot 36.7 percent from the field and 20 percent from behind the arch, struggled on offense in the final two minutes to commit three of its 22 turnovers in the game.  When the buzzer sounded, the Lady Night Hawks' doom was faced with the 79-60 loss on the road.
 
Thomas had four players in double figures for the night. Guard Courtney Saunds led the way for the Lady Night Hawks scoring 14 points.  The Darien, Ga., native also dished out two assists and collected one steal in the losing effort.  Smith and teammate Jessica Anderson added 11 points each in the contest while Bria Joyner-Williams was just two rebounds shy of a double-double contributing 10 points.  AMU's Lindsey and Annie Artse led all scorers with 18.
 
Thomas drops to 9-14, 6-8 TSC, while the Lady Gyrenes improve to 15-12, 6-9 on the year.
 
The Lady Night Hawks return to action on Saturday, Feb. 14 when they host Sun Conference rival Johnson and Wales University on Senior Night.  Prior to the game, the TU Athletics Department will honor Jessica Anderson, Brittany Harris, Courtney Saunds, and Ivory Smith.  Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m.

For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU women's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksWBKB.