The Aquinas women's basketball team used a +17 scoring advantage in the second half to earn a road rivalry victory at Cornerstone on Monday night (Jan. 13), topping the Golden Eagles by a 64-48 final. In a game rescheduled from inclement weather over the weekend, the Saints trailed by one at the half, but outscored CU by a 41-24 tally over the final 20 minutes.
 
It is AQ's fifth win in its last seven games, with the only losses during that stretch coming to a pair of #11 nationally ranked teams (Taylor and Indiana Tech). The Saints move to 10-8 on the season and 6-3 in WHAC action, while Cornerstone drops to 2-17 overall and 1-9 in league play.
 
Aquinas dominated the battle of the boards to the tune of a 56-32 advantage, which included a 26-11 edge in offensive rebounds. As is becoming a common theme, the Saints did so with their shortest and tallest players leading the way. Point guard Camaryia Williams – the WHAC's leading rebounder by a healthy margin – pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds, nine coming on the offensive glass. It is her 11th double-digit rebounding game of the season and fifth straight game of 10+ rebounds. Williams added nine points, two assists, and two steals.
 
Center Marissa Brady grabbed a dozen rebounds, including five on the offensive end. She added nine points, two blocks, and two steals. Daz'Sha Day led all players with a game-high 19 points, shooting 9-of-14 from the field (8-of-9 from two-point range). Day chipped in three assists and two steals.
 
Jaylynn Williams totaled 10 points and three assists, Keeley Hinton provided eight points, three assists, and three boards, while Jordyn Wigg scored six points off the bench. AQ led 27-8 in bench points, 38-28 in points in the paint, and 17-6 in second chance points.
 
Aquinas shot 35.6 percent from the field, but held Cornerstone to just 33.9 percent shooting. The teams combined for just eight made three-pointers (five for AQ, three for Cornerstone), but the Saints' rebounding advantage was too much for the home Golden Eagles. AQ also forced the home team into 19 turnovers.
 
Cornerstone took a 15-9 lead after the first quarter and took a 24-23 halftime lead after a layup in the closing seconds of the first half. The Saints got into a better groove in the second half, making 47.1 percent of its field goals and holding CU to 10-of-32 from the field over the final 20 minutes.
 
A pair of three-pointers from Jaylynn Williams and Hinton tied things up at 35-all, but the Saints broke things up with an 11-0 run from there. Buckets from both Williams (Camaryia and Jaylynn) started the surge and AQ grew the lead with back-to-back fastbreak layups from Hinton and Day. 
 
Jaylynn Williams scored on a layup in the final 12 seconds and Ally Frederickson connected on two free throws to give the visiting Saints a 50-37 cushion heading into the fourth quarter. Cornerstone would get no closer than 10 points over the final 10 minutes.
 
The rescheduled game starts a busy week of road contests for AQ, as the Saints will head to UNOH on Wednesday (Jan. 15) at 5:30 p.m., followed by a Saturday (Jan. 18) trip to face Madonna.