BABSON PARK, Fla. (December 7, 2019) – The Webber International University women's basketball team was outscored 17-7 in the fourth quarter as the Warriors fell to Ave Maria University by a final score of 63-50 on Saturday inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.

The largest lead of the first quarter was a 4-0 lead for Webber on a layup by LeAndra Franklin on the first play of the game followed by a layup by Thalia Jackson with 7:13 left in the period.

Then, after Jackson added another layup in the final seconds of the first quarter, the Warriors led 16-13 after 10 minutes thanks to a strong 53.3 percent (8-15) mark from the field.

In the second quarter, Webber led by as much as eight at 23-15 with six minutes left following a layup by Taniya Patrick, and then the home team led by eight again at 25-17 following another score by Patrick with 4:18 left before halftime.

Unfortunately, Ave Maria used an 8-0 run to come back to tie it at 25-25 with two minutes left in the second quarter, and then after a jumper by Paris Copeland put the Warriors up 27-25, a 3-pointer by the Gyrnees made it 28-27 in favor of AMU with 1:15 left before the intermission.

The Gyrenes then added four more points from their girl in the middle, Sarah Miller, to lead by five at halftime at 32-27.

In all, it was a 15-2 run to close the half by the Gyrenes.

Webber held two two-point leads in the third quarter, first at 37-35 with 6:11 left following a 3-pointer by Amaya Lasley, and then again at 39-37 after a layup by Patrick with 4:35 on the clock in the period.

However, after another basket by Miller for AMU, the Warriors ultimately still trailed by three at 46-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

Then, the Gyrenes come out to start the final 10 minutes swinging as they hit back-to-back 3-pointers to lead by nine at 52-43 with eight minutes left to play.

A 3-pointer by Copeland got Webber back to within six at 52-46 with 5:48 left, but then AMU answered with another 3-pointer a minute later to make it 55-46.

With 1:53 remaining, the Gyrenes went up by 12 at 59-47 before ultimately finishing off the contest on an 11-4 run over the last six minutes.

In total for the fourth quarter, Webber shot only 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) while AMU was 3-for-4 from three in the frame.

Patrick led the Warriors with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor while adding 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double as a sophomore and third in her last four games.

Next in scoring was Copeland with a season-high 13 points.

Franklin added six points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, Jackson finished with eight rebounds, and RayGene Garner finished with seven boards.

With the loss, Webber fell to 4-6 overall and 1-4 in the Sun Conference with what was its fifth loss in a row after opening conference play with a win at home over Keiser University back in mid-November. Ave Maria, meanwhile, is already over the 10-win mark on the season at 11-3 and is now 4-1 in the conference. It was also the seventh straight defeat for the Warriors against the Gyrenes after Webber was swept in the series during each of the last three seasons.

With Sun Conference play wrapped up for the fall portion of Webber's 2019-20 season, the Warriors will now set their sights on a stretch of five straight nonconference games heading into the New Year. The first of these five nonconference games will be a road matchup at Florida College at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, December 13, in Temple Terrace, Florida. Earlier this season on November 9, Webber was a 76-46 winner over the Falcons inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.