Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Trailing by 16 points early in the third quarter, the Aquinas women's basketball team showed resiliency Friday evening (Dec. 16) while playing the opening game of the 2022 Cruzin Classic at St. Thomas University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Saints (5-7 overall) battled all the way back against Florida National (4-5) to even the score at 53-53 with under a minute and a half to play in regulation. But, the Conquistadors escaped with a 57-54 win after Natalie Larranage scored FNU's last four points and AQ missed a 3-pointer that would have forced overtime.

On the game's opening possession, Aquinas took the lead on a triple made by Mauriya Barnes. She finished with a team-high 11 points. The Saints relinquished the lead, at 4-3, two minutes into the opening quarter and never got it back. Florida National led 15-8 after the first 10 minutes.

That was extended out to 10 points, 32-22, by halftime with the Conquistadors shooting a staggering 57.1% (8-for-14) from the floor in the second quarter. AQ's offense needed the first half to shake off some rust — 18.8% first quarter and 28.6% second quarter — before it started to get going in the second half.

Florida National held its largest lead of the game at 40-24 with 7:37 left in the third quarter. But, the Saints kept chipping away and were able to cut the 16-point deficit down to eight points by the end of the third quarter at 47-39.

After a pair of made free throws by FNU's Aaliyah Abdala had the Conquistadors up 53-42 with 6:47 remaining, Aquinas went on an impressive 11-0 run over the span of five minutes to tie the game at 53-53. Brighton Miller, Isabel Reemsnyder, Eliza Brown and Paige Guernsey all contributed points in the comeback spree.

Yet, Florida National regrouped in the final minute and a half to avoid the complete collapse and captured the neutral site, holiday tournament win.

Ten different Saints scored in the contest but Barnes was the only one in double figures with Guernsey (9), Miller (8) and Brown (8) just missing the plateau. Emily Cline also added 7 points and 10 rebounds. AQ shot 30.4% from the field and 29.2% on 3-pointers.

AQ outrebounded FNU 36-29 and had significantly more production off the bench (26-6). Whereas, Florida National scored more points off turnovers (23-10) and dominated inside the paint (32-14).

The Saints play one more game at the Cruzin Classic on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 18) against the College of Saint Mary (Neb.). Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.