Grand Rapids, Mich. – The Aquinas women's basketball team competed in a battle on the hardwood tonight (Jan. 10) as they took on the Concordia Cardinals. AQ remained resilient throughout the entire game, however, its efforts were not enough to overcome the Cardinals as it came up short by a score of 71-67.
Aquinas suffered its first loss of 2024, making them 7-8 on the year with an even win-loss ratio at home of 4-4. Concordia adds to its impressive resume when facing conference opponents this season now standing at 10-0 in conference play.
Concordia 71, Aquinas 67
It was a game of catch-up for the Saints in the first quarter of play. Concordia led by as many as six points just two minutes into the game until the women's Saint of the Week, Claire Gregwer, nailed a good-looking jumper to swing the momentum back in the home team's favor. The momentum was short-lived as Concordia continued to respond on offense, holding the lead heading into the second quarter up three by a score of 24-21.
Aquinas came into the second quarter, cutting the Cardinals' lead to a single point after another sweet basket from Gregwer. The guard from Grandville wasn't done yet as she got a steal and drove for an easy layup to give Aquinas a one-point lead. A few minutes later, with six minutes remaining in the half, Paige Guernsey set up Gregwer with a smooth assist, increasing the Aquinas lead to seven. The rest of the second quarter belonged to the Saints as they never allowed Concordia to regain the lead and jogged into the locker room up three by a score of 47-44.
Things stayed close to start the half with both teams fighting for an edge. It was Concordia that was able to pull ahead by seven, however, with around four minutes remaining, Guernsey drew a foul that stifled the Cardinals' run. Aquinas cut its deficit down to three after a nice steal and layup by Alona Blackwell, but weren't able to build off the sequence as they went into the final quarter down by four.
As the fourth quarter began, it was all Concordia. The Cardinals had established a 15-point lead as the Saints offense stalled. Nonetheless, just as the deficit seemed too large to overcome, Blackwell sunk an acrobatic layup with around five minutes until the final buzzer, which turned out to be the spark Aquinas needed to start a run of its own. A solid defensive block by Gregwer led to a 3-pointer by Blackwell, making a comeback more realistic as the Saints were behind 10 with 4:25 remaining.
Continuing to carve away at the Concordia lead, with less than 30 seconds remaining, Aquinas had managed to turn a 10-point deficit into only three. Unfortunately, with time winding down, Concordia sunk a free throw to take a two-possession with just seven seconds remaining. Concordia went on to win the contest 71-67.
By the Numbers
Although AQ fell just short, they held an advantage in many scoring metrics. Aquinas outscored Concordia in the paint by 20 points (44-24), earned 12 points fast-break points while not allowing a single fast-break point to Concordia, and scored 15 points off turnovers compared to the Cardinals' nine.
Blackwell led the team in minutes played (40) and in points (29) tonight as she shot 13-29 from the field and ensured her lone free throw hit the bottom of the net.
Gregwer filled out the stat sheet tonight with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 steals in her second double-double performance.
Ciara Hardy also earned herself a double-double finishing the night with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Up Next
AQ will be looking to bounce back in their matchup against Cornerstone on Saturday. (Jan. 13) The game is scheduled to tip off at 1:00 p.m.
