Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Aquinas women's basketball team cut a 20-point deficit down to just three points in Saturday's (Dec. 16) home contest against Lawrence Tech, but the Saints were unable to complete the comeback. Visiting LTU used a big first half to open the early lead and after Aquinas fought back to 58-55, the Blue Devils closed out the win by a 77-62 final.
One week ago also in the Sturrus Center, the Saints trailed Lourdes by 18 points early in the third quarter. AQ rallied all the way back to within four points at the end of the third and capped the comeback with a 74-72 win. The story was nearly the same on Saturday, as Aquinas cut a 20-point deficit early in the third quarter down to three points late in the quarter against Lawrence Tech.
The Blue Devils regained control and outscored AQ 17-7 over the final 10 minutes to notch the road win. LTU improves to 3-6 overall and 3-4 in WHAC play, while the Saints are 4-7 on the year and 2-4 in conference action.
Despite Lawrence Tech outscoring Aquinas in three of the four quarters, the Saints used a massive third quarter to nearly pull even and erase a 20-point deficit in less than 10 minutes. LTU led 45-25 at halftime, but AQ doubled up the Blue Devils 30-15 in an impressive third quarter showing. After making it back to 58-55, Lawrence Tech scored 19 of the game's 26 points.
Three Aquinas players reached double-digits, led by Alona Blackwell's game-high 22 points. The reigning WHAC Player of the Week, Blackwell shot 9-of-19 from the field and totaled seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. She was joined in double figures by Ciara Hardy, who posted 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Hardy scored 16 points in the second half and sank a pair of three-pointers, as did Blackwell.
Paige Guernsey made 5-of-8 free throws and recorded 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals in a solid all-around performance. Alexis Thomas mirrored that effort with seven points, six rebounds, and three assists. Ashlyn Wilkes and Hannah Outlaw collected two steals apiece.
Overall, Lawrence Tech shot 44.4 percent from the field, compared to AQ's 40.4 percent shooting. Both teams made seven three-pointers, but LTU (14-20) was more efficient at the line than Aquinas (9-18).
A three-pointer from Guernsey made the score 14-12 with 4:05 remaining in the first quarter, but Lawrence Tech closed the quarter with a 14-4 run to cap a high-scoring first 10 minutes. It was 28-16 heading into the second stanza. A Thomas triple and Blackwell jumper brought the Saints within single digits at 30-21, but LTU scored the final 10 points of the quarter to take a 45-25 lead to halftime.
The advantage was again 20 points (47-27) when Aquinas began to chip away in the third quarter. It started with a Blackwell trifecta and a Hardy layup. Hardy and Blackwell then connected on back-to-back three-pointers, followed by two Guernsey free throws starting a 9-0 Aquinas run. The last seven points of that run were scored by Hardy and AQ made it a 58-55 game late in the third, again with Hardy scoring on a layup. She was 6-for-8 from the field and had 14 third quarter points, while Blackwell added 10 as AQ erupted for 30 points.
Aquinas tried to keep that momentum going into the fourth quarter, as the score was 65-58 with 6:44 remaining. LTU hit a jumper, then sank three free throws on a fouled three-point attempt, and added a three-pointer moments later to regain a commanding 73-58 cushion. The visitors closed the game from there with the road triumph.
The Saints are back in action next Thursday (Dec. 21) in an exhibition game at Purdue Fort Wayne. Game time in Fort Wayne, Ind. is set for 11:00 a.m.
