HU heads into Christmas break with 74-66 win over Ave Maria

Ave Maria, Fla. – The Huntington women's basketball team escaped Tom Golisano Field House with a 74-66 win over Ave Maria Saturday afternoon before jumping on a plane back to Indiana just in time for the Christmas holidays.

For the Gyrenes, it was their fifth game in seven days while today marked the third game in five days for the Foresters. With this victory, Huntington wraps up their pre-Christmas schedule with an overall record of 7-6 while AMU drops to 5-7 having lost all five games this week.

It was obvious both teams were on the hunt for a win in hopes of a merrier Christmas as the contest featured ten ties and 11 lead changes. The Gyrenes may have won the early battle by skirting out to an 11-point lead of 27-16 early in the second quarter but the Foresters won the war.

With just under two minutes to go in the third, a pair of freebies by Liv Raby finally tipped the scales in favor of HU for good at 52-50. It spurred a 16-4 run that spilled into the fourth for a Huntington lead of 66-54 with 5:43 to go.

Gabi Melby took control of the fourth by scoring 12 of her team's 22 points highlighted by draining two from downtown and hitting two critical free throws with 15 seconds remaining to solidify the win. Her two throws came on the heels of five straight points by Ave Maria that had pulled them to within four. Raby then put the finishing touches on the day by adding two more points from the charity stripe for the final eight-point spread.

Melby topped all scorers with 22 points which included dropping in all four of her three-point attempts. She also corralled seven rebounds and handed out three assists. Raby and Bailey Kelham tossed in 12 points apiece. Raby also collected five boards, three blocks and two steals while Kelham finished with four rebounds, two blocks and three steals.

In her 18 minutes of play, Addie Shank ripped down a team-best and career-high nine rebounds in addition to netting eight points and swatting two shots. As a team, Maggard's crew posted nine blocks marking the fourth time this year HU has had at least seven snuffs in a game.

The Foresters matched a season-low by turning the ball over just ten times. Huntington capitalized on 20 of their 24 free throws for 83.3 percent and also finished with ten long balls which marks the eighth time this season HU has posted double digit three-pointers.

Lavariah Armstead paced the Gyrenes with 21 points and five assists while Colleen Shanahan enjoyed a double double of 18 points and 12 boards.

The Foresters are off until December 30 when they host Great Lakes Christian at 1:00 p.m.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 160 NAIA All-America honors and 567 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.