The Aquinas women's basketball team saw its winning streak stop at four in the road WHAC conference game against Madonna on Wednesday night (Nov. 17) in Livonia, Michigan. The Saints attempted a comeback after going into halftime down by eight, but ultimately fell short in the 62-57 loss in Alliance Catholic Credit Union Arena.
Aquinas' overall record drops to 5-3 on the season and to 2-1 in the WHAC, while Madonna gained its first win of the season to move to 1-7 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
The Saints didn't score the first basket until 2:39 passed in the first quarter. After that, the Crusaders went on an 11-2 run to gain a a seven-point lead with 2:41 remaining. Two AQ buckets cut the deficit to three, but MU hit a three to gain a six-point lead heading into the second quarter. The second quarter was back-and-forth with the Saints cutting the Crusaders lead down to as low as four before MU was able to gain back control and push its lead back up to 10 with 1:41 left in the half. Aquinas hit the last field goal of the half as Madonna led by eight after 20 minutes of play.
The Saints started to turn things around in the third period, shrinking the deficit all the way down to one with 2:29 on the clock. The Crusaders scored three more baskets to AQ's two before the quarter ended as the scoreboard read 42-37 in favor of MU. The fourth quarter saw a combined 40 points with both teams scoring 20 a piece. The Saints were able to shrink the lead down to two multiple times, but could not get over the hump and gain the lead from the Crusaders.
Aquinas shot 21-49 from the field for a 42.9% shooting percentage. The Saints made four of 13 shots from behind the arc with all four coming in the final quarter to go along with shooting 11-17 from the free throw stripe. Madonna shot at a 40.7% clip after making 24-59 baskets including 7-21 from downtown and 7-11 from the charity stripe.
Marissa Brady recorded her third double-double so far this season after scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while also blocking another five shots tonight. Daz'Sha Day was the only other Saints in double figures with 14 and also contributed four steals. Brighton Miller finished as the leading assist getter with three as Day, Emily Cline and Alexis Thomas all had two each.
Madonna held advantages over Aquinas in rebounds (30-27) and steals (12-10) as AQ had six blocks to MU's one, while both teams finished with 11 assists. The Crusaders also led the Saints in points off turnovers (12-10), second chance points (9-4), bench points (18-16), and fast break points (6-0) and AQ edged MU in points in the paint at 28-24.
Aquinas returns to the Sturrus Center on Friday (Nov. 19) in a non-conference bout against Grace Christian with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 PM.
