Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Aquinas women's basketball team put up a valiant effort against the unbeaten Indiana Tech Warriors on Saturday (Dec. 2) inside the Sturrus Center before IT pulled away in the final quarter. AQ led 54-49 entering the fourth quarter, but the visiting Warriors scored 22 points in the final 10 minutes to pull away with the 71-60 win.

Indiana Tech entered the game with a 6-1 record and a 4-0 mark in WHAC play, but the Saints gave the Warriors all they could handle on Saturday. Aquinas (3-5 overall, 1-3 WHAC) outscored IT in both the first and third quarters to hold a five-point lead entering the final frame. Indiana Tech (7-1, 5-0) used a 14-2 run late in the fourth to prevail.

The back-and-forth game saw 14 lead changes and seven tie scores.

Alona Blackwell registered her seventh 20-point effort in eight contests, logging a game-high 26 points in 40 minutes of action. She was 11-of-20 from the field and made all three free throws, adding seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Ciara Hardy also reached double-digits with 10 points and seven rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.

Aquinas shot 41.7 percent from the field and went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. The Saints shot 4-of-20 from three-point range. AQ held a 36-33 edge in the rebounding battle. 

Indiana Tech managed to shoot 44.1 percent in the game, but that number was inflated from a 9-for-14 fourth quarter (64.3 percent). Overall, the Warriors made 8-of-19 three-pointers and went 11-of-13 at the stripe. 

A high-scoring first quarter saw Aquinas take a 20-17 advantage after the opening 10 minutes, including the final six points from Blackwell. The Saints extended the lead to nine points (30-21) at the 7:19 mark of the second quarter after a Paige Guernsey three-pointer, an old-fashioned three-point play from Blackwell, and a short jumper in the paint from Guernsey.

Indiana Tech rallied back to tie the score and the teams would head to halftime tied at 36-36. 

Hardy scored on a layup and Blackwell hit a three-pointer to give AQ an early 41-36 lead in the third quarter. The teams would continue volleying back and forth, with IT regaining a 49-48 lead at the 3:22 mark of the frame. Brynn Reams hit a jumper to put the Saints back in front, 50-49. That was followed by a pair of Blackwell free throws and a layup from Hardy to send Aquinas into the fourth quarter with the 54-49 cushion.

Reams hit another jumper at the 6:27 mark of the fourth quarter and AQ led 58-57. From there, Indiana Tech closed the game by scoring 14 of the game's final 16 points to pull away with a double-digit victory that was much closer than the final score might depict.

Ashlyn Wilkes hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with nine points, six rebounds, and two blocked shots. Guernsey provided seven points and a pair of steals, while Reams tied for team-high honors with seven rebounds and made 3-of-5 shots for her six points. Alexis Thomas added four rebounds and three assists. 

The Saints are back in action on Wednesday in a non-league game. AQ heads to Joliet, Ill. to face St. Francis in a 6:30 p.m. tipoff.