Fort Lauderdale, Florida — The Aquinas women's basketball team got everyone involved in a 67-51 wire-to-wire win Sunday evening (Dec. 18) over College of Saint Mary (Neb.) at the Cruzin Classic being held at St. Thomas University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Seventeen different Saints got playing time as AQ wrapped up its holiday road trip with a rather convincing win on a neutral court. Aquinas improved to 6-7 overall this season, while the Flames dropped to 4-10.

The Saints set the tone early by scoring the first eight points off four made field goals by four different players. Three 3-pointers in a row, two by Eliza Brown and one by Mauriya Barnes, extended AQ's lead to 17-5 with three and a half minutes left in the first quarter. The Flames scored fifth straight points to cut the deficit down to seven points, 17-10, after the first 10 minutes. 

Bailey White made a pair of 3-pointers at the end of the second quarter to get the Flames within three points, 33-30, going into halftime. The College of Saint Mary had its best shooting output in the second quarter, going 7-for-17 (41.2%) with six of the makes being triples. But, the Flames hot three-point shooting went ice cold in the second half (0-for-16). 

Aquinas outscored the College of Saint Mary 34-21 in the second half and the Saints managed to score 16-plus points in every single quarter.

The closest the Flames got to taking a lead was at 36-34 following a layup by CSM's leading scorer Clare Lewandowski, who finished with a team-high 16 points on 8-for-13 shooting and nine rebounds.

Brown, making her fifth and final 3-pointer, gave AQ a 49-41 lead after three quarters. The Saints made nine triples in the contest — one shy of tying the most they have made this season. AQ did set offensive season-highs in total field goals made (26) and assists (22).

Brown scored a game-high 18 points in 23 minutes, and that includes a scoreless five minutes that she played in the fourth quarter before the Saints emptied out the bench. Brown, along with Brionne Crews and Alexis Thomas, also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. AQ won the battle on the glass, 56-34.

Barnes finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Isabel Reemsnyder and Thomas chipped in eight points. Crews added seven points to go with her seven rebounds. Emily Cline and Brighton Miller each had six points and six rebounds. In total, nine different Saints scored.

Aquinas shot 41.9% from the floor and 33.3% from deep.

The Saints now return home to enjoy the holiday before preparing to face Ohio Christian at home on Thursday, Dec. 29. It will be the last game of 2022 for AQ. Tipoff from the Sturrus Center is set for 1 p.m.