Ave Maria Gets By Northwood, Advances to Championship Game
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Second seed Ave Maria defeated no. 3 seed Northwood, 53-52 in the second semifinal of the 2013 Sun Conference Championship Presented by Shula’s Hotel and Golf Club Friday night at the Fernandez Family Center on the St. Thomas University campus. With the win, Ave Maria (22-8) advances to face Webber International (14-13) in Saturday’s championship game scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Fernandez Center.
The tightly contested game featured several tie scores and lead changes. Ave Maria led at halftime, 32-31, then opened up a nine point lead in the second half at 46-37. The Seahawks charged back with a 9-0 run to tie the game with 6:08 remaining. Northwood took its first lead of the second half on a jumper by Sharnele Brown to give the Seahawks a 50-49 lead with 3:16 to play. Back-to-back field goals by Annie Artise put the Gyrenes up by three points until free throws by Amily May and Erin Riley brought NU back within one point with 40 seconds to play. After several fouls, Northwood had one last chance in the final seconds, but came up empty.
Ave Maria’s Emily Huber led all scorers with 21 points. Erin Murphy was AMU’s top rebounder with 11 boards to go along with eight points. Amy Myler produced a well-rounded stat line with six points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two blocked shots.
Brown scored 14 points to lead the Seahawks in scoring. Alison Hardiman registered a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Ave Maria will be seeking its second consecutive Sun Conference tournament championship on Saturday vs. Webber International.
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