Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Aquinas women's basketball squad returned to the hardwood this afternoon (Dec. 10) to take on the Wolverines of UM-Dearborn in their last home game before Christmas. The Saints proceeded to close out their 2022 conference home schedule with a huge win against the Wolverines. AQ held the lead for a majority of the game, eventually winning 62-50.

Aquinas improves to 5-6 on the season with a 3-5 WHAC record. UMD falls to 2-11 with a 1-7 WHAC record.

The Saints jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after Eliza Brown converted a three and Mauriya Barnes scored a jumper to start the game. AQ's scoring slowed down as UMD scored the next ten points to take a 10-5 lead.

Three-pointers by Brighton Miller and Isabel Reemsnyder effectively erased the UMD lead late in the first quarter. A layup from Jayda Smith with 32 seconds left on the clock finally gave Aquinas the lead back with the score 15-14 in favor of the Saints. UMD proceeded to miss its three-point jumper and the first quarter score remained at 15-14.

Another three-pointer from Miller kicked off the scoring for AQ to start the second quarter. The two sides traded a series of buckets, but Barnes gave AQ its first double-digit lead with six and a half minutes left to play in the first half. Over the next three minutes, UMD nearly erased to AQ lead with an eight-point run.

The two sides continued to battle until the final whistle of the half, but a late three from Bailey Delaney gave the Saints a five-point advantage heading into half time. Aquinas shot an impressive five-for-seven from beyond the arc in the first half.

A defensive battle ensued to begin the second half with the Saints holding the Wolverines to just five points through the entirety of the third quarter. AQ was held to just 13 points themselves, but the Saints held a 50-37 lead as the third quarter came to a close.

A pair of free throws from Paige Guernsey and a bucket from Alexis Thomas gave AQ a 17-point lead to begin the fourth quarter, AQ's largest lead of the game. With roughly five minutes to play, UMD went on a small run, but deficit would be too much for the visiting side to overcome. A pair of free throws from Emily Bissett ended the game 62-50 in favor of the Saints.

Miller led the Saints in points this afternoon with 12 thanks to four three-point buckets. She also had three boards and a pair of assists.

Reemsnyder was the only other Saint to eclipse double-digit points, scoring 11 off of 4-9 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from three.

As a team, the Saints held the advantage over UMD in total rebounds (47-44), assists (14-11), turnovers (14-20), blocks (2-1), and steals (10-3). AQ also shot slightly better from the field, shooting 32.8 percent to UMD's 31.5 percent.

AQ will return to action on December 16th all the way down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as a part of the Cruzin Classic. The Saints will take on Florida National at 7:00 PM.