BABSON PARK, Fla. (January 17, 2019) – The Warriors outscored the Gyrenes 24-15 in the fourth quarter and nearly completed a big 17-point comeback, but in the end, the Webber International University women's basketball team fell to Ave Maria University by a score of 67-63.

Paris Copeland scored 13 points and added 10 rebounds for her third double-double in Webber's last four games. Next in points for the Warriors was Breyonna Reed with 12 points and Emmarrie Carmen with 11 points and eight rebounds. Both Copeland and Carmen shot 5-of-10 from the field while Reed was a little bit better with a clip of 5-for-8.

Additionally, Dariah Bolden scored eight points and helped key the Warriors' hot start to the fourth quarter, and Taniya Patrick finished with four blocks.

Trailing 52-39 after three quarters after back-to-back layups by Carmen, including one at the buzzer to end the third quarter, Webber opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run, all by Bolden, to get within five at 52-47.

The Warriors then got to within four at 54-50 with 6:05 remaining on a layup by Copeland, and then a few minutes later, a 9-0 Warrior run, starting with two layups by Reed and finishing with a 3-pointer bounced in by Montrese Weller, tied the game at 59-59 with 2:31 left.

Then, down 61-59 with under 45 seconds left, a costly turnover by the Warriors led to a layup by the Gyrenes that made it 63-59 with 28 seconds to go. A fast break layup by Reed with 17.3 seconds left then made it 63-61, and a 1-for-2 trip at the free throw line by Ave Maria kept the door open for the Warriors as Copeland took the ball hard to the rim to draw the foul before converting on two free throws to make it only a one-point game at 64-63 with 8.8 seconds on the clock.

However, the Warriors would not be able to get the ball back with a chance to tie as another 1-for-2 trip to the line for Ave Maria led to a Gryenes' offensive rebound, and then the final two free throws for Ave Maria went down to seal the four-point victory.

"We played almost well enough to pull off the win," said Head Coach Grady Morrell. "We need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot with late turnovers and missed foul shots."

Webber's spirited fourth quarter came in large part thanks to a 53.3 percent effort from the field in the quarter with two made 3-pointers while Ave Maria shot only 30.8 percent in the quarter with four turnovers in the first three minutes of the frame.

In the second quarter in which Webber was outscored 17-10, Webber was held to only 21.4 percent shooting from the field and only a 3-of-9 mark from the foul line.

The loss dropped Webber's record to 7-11 overall and 2-8 in The Sun Conference as the Warriors started off the second half of the 2018-19 Sun Conference slate with a season sweep at the hands of Ave Maria, who improved to 16-4 and 7-3. In the previous meeting between the two teams on November 17, 2018, Ave Maria was victorious by 14, 69-55, as Thursday's game this time around marked noticeable improvement for the Warriors.

Next up, Webber will hit the road for two games at both of its Polk County rival schools, No. 5 Southeastern University and Warner University. The Warriors and the Fire of Southeastern will play in two days on Saturday, January 19, at 5 p.m. in Lakeland, Florida, and then Webber will travel around Crooked Lake to play the Royals of Warner a week later at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 26, in Lake Wales, Florida.