Southfield, Mich. – The Aquinas women's basketball team was back on the road tonight (Jan. 31) for a Wednesday conference basketball doubleheader against Lawrence Tech. AQ entered the contest on a three-game losing streak and was looking for a much-needed win.

Alona Blackwell did everything in her power to give the Saints the win. She dropped 34 points to keep Aquinas in the game until the very end. Lawrence Tech scored a free throw with just three seconds remaining to take a 67-66 lead. Blackwell then had an opportunity for a buzzer-beater, but the shot fell just short to give the Blue Devils the win.

The heartbreaking result puts Aquinas at 8-13 on the season with a 5-10 conference record. Lawrence Tech improves to 10-11 with an 8-7 WHAC record.

Lawrence Tech 67, Aquinas 66

Both teams got off the blocks fast with Blackwell scoring AQ's first five points. Ciara Hardy then scored the next five points for the Saints to establish a 10-8 lead following the first media timeout.

Julia Huey responded with back-to-back-to-back threes to turn the momentum in LTU's favor. She converted yet another three to give herself four threes in three minutes for a 20-13 Blue Devil lead. Paige Guernsey scored a jumper on AQ's final possession of the quarter to cut the lead down to five heading into the first intermission.

Huey scored her fifth three of the game shortly after the second quarter picked up to spark an LTU run. The Blue Devils claimed a 12-point advantage until Blackwell responded with a three to cut the deficit back down to single digits. That three jump-started a 14-7 run from AQ to end the half with the Saints trailing by five.

LTU made some solid defensive adjustments coming out of the locker rooms for the second half and was able to rebuild its lead back to double-digits. However, a couple of late buckets from AQ in the third quarter had the visitors trailing by only six heading into the final quarter.

Ashlyn Wilkes narrowed the deficit to just two points and then a layup and a pair of free throws from Blackwell put the two teams even at 53-53. A couple of minutes later, Brynn Reams scored a layup to give Aquinas its first lead since the first quarter.

Lawrence Tech rallied back and it was Blackwell that functioned as AQ's offensive pulse down the stretch. She scored seven consecutive points to keep the game close and Wilkes tied the game with 23 seconds with a pair of free throws. However, a foul against the Saints with just three seconds left on the scoreboard ended the close bout in favor of LTU.

By the Numbers

Aquinas capitalized off of more turnovers, outscoring LTU 8-3 in points off turnovers. AQ also had 15 second-chance points to LTU's three and slightly outrebounded the Blue Devils (44-43).

Lawrence Tech had a better night shooting the ball (40%-35.9%) and had a stronger contribution from its bench (22-15).

Blackwell scored over half of AQ's points tonight with a 34-point performance. She shot 12-23 from the field and 8-12 from the line for another phenomenal night. This is her sixth game this season scoring 30 or more points. She now has 548 points this season, averaging 26.1 points per game. On the year, she has scored 38.1% of AQ's total points.

Up Next

AQ's three-game road stand ends this weekend with a tough test against No. 21-ranked Indiana Tech. The game is scheduled to tip off at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 3).