Score: Keiser 43, Ave Maria 39
Records: Keiser (17-11, 8-8 SUN), Ave Maria (17-11, 8-8 SUN)
Location: Student Life Center, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Keiser Starters: Shykim Gillion (G),
Kennedy Schlabach (G),
Julia Fitzwater(G),
Elise Ellison-Coons (F),
Elliana Schaefer (G).
Ave Maria Starters: Casey Humphrey (G), Emily Rapacz (G), Allison Fifield (G), Grace Field (F), Abbey Phibbs (G).
In a "win-and-your-in" situation, the Keiser women's basketball team did just that, defeating the Ave Maria Gyrenes, 43-39, on Saturday afternoon. The win on Senior Day marked the team's fourth straight in Sun Conference action as the Seahawks earned the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Sun Conference Women's Basketball Tournament (Feb. 21 - 25).
The Seahawks were led by
Kennedy Schlabach who scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Sophomore
Elise Ellison-Coons posted 15 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Prior to the game, Keiser recognized its senior class (
Shykim Gillion,
Andressa Nascimento, and
Kennedy Schlabach), who played the final regular season home game of their KU careers.
The Seahawks used a 10-0 run in the final 2:48 of the second quarter to take a comfortable lead heading into the break. It would be a lead that the Seahawks would not relinquish. The run was capped off with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by
Kennedy Schlabach.
Keiser 9, Ave Maria 9
- The Seahawks got on the board first with a mde jumper by Kennedy Schlabach (9:53).
- The Gyrenes tied the game with a Casey Humphrey basket at the 8:31 mark.
- A pair of free throws by Elise Ellison-Coons and a made layup by Elliana Schaefer gave Keiser a 6-2 lead with 4:41 left in the first.
- Andressa Nascimento gave the Seahawks a 9-5 lead with 1:55 on the clock.
- The Gyrenes closed out the quarter with a 4-0 run to tie the game, 9-9.
Keiser 28, Ave Maria 17
- Ellison-Coons pushed the Seahawks ahead 11-9 with two made free throws at the 8:43 mark.
- A layup by Grace Field tied the game with 8:32 left in the half.
- Ellison-Coons regained the lead for the Seahawks with a jumper from the free-throw line, 13-11 (7:09).
- A jumper by AMU's Field drew the game even, 13-13 (6:48).
- The Gyrenes took the lead with a made bucket by Emily Rapacz, 15-13.
- Ellison-Coons tied the contest,scoring her third bucket of the quarter with 5:32 on the game clock.
- The native of Lexington, Kentucky, added two more points, going 2-of-2 from the line to give KU a 17-15 lead (4:27).
- Gillion stole the ball off a Gyrene rebound and took it coast-to-coast for the bucket with 1:34 left in the half to make it a 20-17 game.
- A rebound off Gillion's "And-1" attempt led to a 3-pointer by Schlabach, extending Keiser's lead to 23-17.
- Ellison-Coons scored her 11th points of the quarter with a made jumper (00:40).
- Schlabach capped off the Seahawks, 10-0 run with a 3-point buzzer-beater as KU went into the break up, 28-17.
- Schlabach's back-to-back made 3-pointers broke a string of nine straight misses from downtown by the Seahawks.
Keiser 39, Ave Maria 30
- AMU scored the first bucket of the second half with a make by Mckenzi Lyons (8:53).
- Rapacz cut the Seahawk's lead to 28-21 with a basket at the 8:24 mark.
- AMU extended its run to 6-0 with a pair of made free throws by Field.
- Ellison-Coons ended the run with a hook shot in the paint, 30-23 (7:02).
- Field made the score 32-25 with a layup with 6:05 on the clock.
- Schlabach hit another 3-pointer as KU lead 35-25 (5:37).
- Lyons hit a baseline jumper to bring AMU closer, 35-28.
- Lyons then made it a five-point game with a bucket at the 1:22 mark (35-30).
- Schlabach knocked down jumper to bring the lead up to 37-30 (1:00).
- Schlabach added another score with 11 second left in the third to give Keiser a 39-30 lead.
Keiser 43, Ave Maria 39
- Field cut the Keiser lead to 39-32 with a jumper with 7:41 left in the game.
- Schlabach hit her third 3-pointer of the game to push the Seahawk lead back to double-digits, 42-32 (6:47).
- With 6:22 on the game clock, Field went 2-of-2 from the line as AMU pulled within eight, 42-34.
- Humphrey added two more points for the Gyrenes with two from the free-throw line (42-36 - 2:58).
- Humphrey added another point, going 1-of-2 from the line with 2:02 remaining (42-37).
- Field cut the Keiser lead to three with a layup at the 1:18 mark, 42-39.
- Taylor Jones and Ellison-Coons had an amazing defensive sequence as each recorded blocked shots on AMU attempts with under 30 second left.
- Jones collected the defensive rebound off the second block (Ellison-Coons) with 23 seconds left in the game.
- Schlabach hit 1-of-2 from the line to give KU a 43-39 lead with 18.8 second left in regulation.
- The win improves Keiser to 17-11 overall this season and 8-8 in Sun Conference action.
- With the win, Keiser earned the No. 4 spot in the upcoming Sun Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.
- The win marked the Seahawk's fourth straight in conference action.
- With the win, Keiser improves to 4-4 in conference games at home this season.
- With the win, Keiser improves to 18-17 all-time versus the Gyrenes.
- With the win, the Seahawks snapped a three-game skid to the Gyrenes.
- The Seahawks are now 8-8 all-time versus the Gyrenes in West Palm Beach, Florida.
- The Seahawks are now 15-13 all-time versus AMU in Sun Conference action.
- Kennedy Schlabach scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor.
- Also scoring in double-figures was Elise Ellison-Coons, who contributed 15 points.
- The native of Lexington, Kentucky, led the team with nine boards.
- Both Shykim Gillion and Julia Fitzwater grabbed seven rebounds apiece.
- Gillion also led the team in assists with six.
- With four 3-pointers made in the game, Schlabach increased her team-leading total to 82 this season - No. 2 in the Keiser single-season record books.
- Schlabach leads the conference in free-throw shooting percentage (.869).
- Ties: 5
- Lead Changes: 2
- Largest Lead: Keiser (11); Ave Maria (2)
Keiser
Ave Maria
- Points: Grace Field (14)
- Rebounds: Grace Field (11)
- Assists: Casey Humphrey (3)
The Seahawks will host a Sun Conference Quarterfinals match on Tuesday, February 21. Game time is set for 5:30 PM.
