A strong final 30 minutes and two career-high scoring efforts carried the Aquinas women's basketball team to a double-digit road win on Wednesday (Jan. 15) in Lima, Ohio. The Saints outscored UNOH by 27 points over the final three quarters to topple the Racers on their home floor in a 72-57 triumph. Aquinas trailed by 15 points in the second quarter, but closed the game out much better and eventually flipped that 15-point deficit into a 15-point victory.
 
It was AQ's sixth win in its last eight games, as the Saints improve to 11-8 overall and 7-3 in WHAC action. UNOH drops to 6-13 on the year and 3-7 in conference play.
 
Center Marissa Brady and guard Jaylynn Williams both put up career-highs in the scoring column, combining for 48 points between the two Saints. Brady went for a career-best 25 points, one point more than her previous high of 24 points at Holy Cross on Dec. 9. She finished 12-for-16 on Wednesday, while adding nine rebounds, three blocks, and a pair of steals in 36 minutes. It is Brady's seventh time this season scoring in double figures.
 
Williams shot 8-of-16 from the field and made 7-of-8 free throws for a career-high 23 points. The first-year transfer's previous best was 18 points in the Jan. 4 win over Concordia at the Sturrus Center. It was her sixth double-digit scoring effort of the year and fourth straight such performance. Williams added six rebounds and a pair of assists in a game-high 38 minutes.
 
The Saints shot 55.1 percent from the field and made 15-of-21 free throws, while the AQ defense limited UNOH to just 35.9 percent shooting. While the Racers did shoot 9-for-32 from three-point range, the home squad was only 2-of-3 at the charity stripe.
 
Aquinas won the rebounding battle handily (42-26) and held a wide 40-18 margin in points in the paint. The Saints assisted on 20 of their 27 baskets, with eight players being credited with at least one assist. 
 
Daz'Sha Day supplied seven points, four rebounds, and four assists, while Kailee Ford added six points, three boards, and three assists. Both Camaryia Williams and Keeley Hinton went scoreless on just two shots each, but contributed five rebounds and four assists apiece. JaKarri Alven chipped in five points and four rebounds.
 
AQ got off to a slow start, as UNOH raced out to a 14-2 lead just five minutes into the game. The Saints played even the rest of the quarter, with the home Racers opening a 20-8 cushion after the first 10 minutes. A pair of three-pointers from Ford in the second quarter started a comeback, which helped spur the surge over the final minutes of the half.
 
Trailing 29-18 with 4:34 to play, Aquinas used back-to-back buckets from Brady, two free throws from Jaylynn Williams, and another jumper from Brady to make it a 29-26 score. The Saints went to halftime trailing 33-30.
 
The game-changing run came early in the third quarter. It was 37-32 in UNOH's favor, but the Saints posted a 14-0 run over the next five minutes. Jaylynn Williams scored six points and Brady added four points during the run, putting Aquinas in front 46-37 with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter. 
 
UNOH stayed close at 48-44 late in the third, but AQ used one more run – this time a 13-2 spurt – to take complete control. Alven started things with an old-fashioned three-point play and the next 10 points were scored by Brady (six) and Jaylynn Williams (four), giving the Saints a 61-46 cushion with seven minutes to play. The Racers would get no closer than eight points the rest of the game.
 
AQ is 2-0 on this current road swing and will look to cap a perfect three-game trip on Saturday (Jan. 18) at 1:00 p.m. against Madonna in Livonia.