Grand Rapids, Mich. — The Aquinas women's basketball team had a back-and-forth battle on Coach Bo court with the Cougars of Cleary. As both teams fought for dominance, AQ managed to out do Cleary in the last quarter to cement their 10 point victory. Saints take down the cougars 71-61.

This win pushes Aquinas to 9-14 (6-11), as Cleary falls to 4-19, (4-13).

Aquinas 71, Cleary 61

The first quarter was off to a patchy start as both teams struggled to finish to the basket. Cleary had the early lead and applied the pressure to the Saints. At the final horn the score at the end of the quarter was 14-8, favored to the Cougars. Alona Blackwell managed six points, while Maddie Sermak had the remainder. 

The next two quarters saw AQ bounce back and keep the scoring drives close. This time Aquinas would outscore Cleary, 21-18 for the quarter. Blackwell added seven more, Claire Gregwer got her engine started with two, Paige Guernsey had six, Ciara Hardy had two, while Hannah Outlaw tagged in with four.

At the horn to signal the half, Cleary stood on top 32-29.

Coming out of halftime into the third, the Saints came back ready to play. Gregwer had her engine started in the first half but had it revving in the second as she burned out 14 of the 19 points that AQ earned in that quarter. 

The Cougars still hung tight as they managed just one point under Aquinas for the period. Cleary's claws started to get loose as the Saints began closing the gap, 50-48.

The fourth quarter is where the Saints shook the Cougars grip for good as AQ went on to out score Cleary 23-11. Blackwell got back on her hot streak and tallied 12, Gregwer tapped in with three, Guernsey had four, Ciara Hardy sunk three, and Jenna Daschke got involved with one.

As the final buzzer sounded, Aquinas had flipped the script and overturned the Cougars to walk away with a 10 point victory.

By the Numbers

AQ shot FG's best in the third period with a 58.33% (7-12). Overall the Saints shot 24-63 (38.1%) for FG's, 3-13 in three-pointers, and 71.4% in free-throws.

Blackwell totaled 28 points, and set a career high for rebounds at 13. Gregwer tallied 19 points and had 12 rebounds. While Guernsey joined in with 10 points, and 10 rebounds.

Up Next

Aquinas is back in action on Saturday (Feb 10) as the will host UM-Dearborn. The contest will begin at 1 p.m. and this game also marks Senior Day for the Saints.