AVE MARIA, Fla. (February 6, 2020) – It was not easy, but for the first time in four seasons, the Webber International University women's basketball team defeated Ave Maria University, doing so by a close score of 68-64 in overtime on Thursday evening inside the Tom Golisano Field House.

In addition to snapping its streak of seven straight losses against the Gyrenes, Webber (15-9 overall, 9-5 The Sun Conference) is now 8-1 since the turn of the New Year and is 11-3 dating back to December 13. Ave Maria (14-10, 7-7), meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell to two games behind the Warriors for fourth place in The Sun Conference women's basketball standings.

Top performers for the Warriors were Paris Copeland with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists; LeAndra Franklin with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals; Eletra Graham with 12 points on four 3-pointers; and Thalia Jackson with five points and seven boards.

Franklin's field goal percentage of .875 percent (7-8) was her highest of the season while for Graham, it was her third time in the last four games hitting at least four 3-pointers.

In addition to Graham's four makes from long range, the Warriors connected on nine total threes as a team, their second most made 3-pointers in a single game all season long.

The Warriors also took advantage of 23 Ave Maria turnovers to outscore the Gyrenes an impressive 25-7 in points off turnovers. Webber also outscored AMU 30-6 in bench points.

With Webber leading 59-55 with three minutes remaining in regulation, the Warriors went cold and did not score for a stretch of five and half minutes spanning until with 2:18 to go in the overtime period to tie the game up at 61-61.

The Warriors missed both of their shots, had three turnovers and went 0-for-4 from the free throw line over the final three minutes of regulation as AMU missed the go-ahead free throw with 30 seconds left.

Webber then missed each of its first three shots of the overtime period and had two more turnovers before starting a 6-0 run and outscoring AMU 9-3 in the final two and a half minutes of the contest.

A layup by Copeland put the Warriors up 63-61 with 1:51 on the clock, and then a jumper by Jackson made it 67-62 with under a minute remaining.

Overall in the overtime period, the Warriors held the Gyrenes to only 1-for-9 shooting (11.11 percent) from the field while shooting 40 percent (4-10) themselves.

"It was a good, tough win for us, but we need to execute better with a lead in the fourth quarter if we want to be great," said Webber's Head Women's Basketball Coach Grady Morrell.

Next up, Webber will return to its home court inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center to host Polk County rivals No. 1 Southeastern University and Warner University on back-to-back Saturdays. The Warriors and the Fire will tipoff in two days at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 8, before a week later, Webber hosts the Royals at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 15.