AVE MARIA, Fla.--Senior Jade Faris led all scorers with 16 points, but Lawrence Tech struggled shooting from the field as the Blue Devils women's basketball team wrapped up 2023 with a 67-49 loss to the host Gyrenes in the Ave Maria University Christmas Classic at the Tom Golisano Field House on Friday. The Blue Devils fall to 5-8 on the season, while the Ave Maria improves to 8-5 overall.

Lawrence Tech Highlights

• After scoring a career-high 23 points (7-12 FGs, 9-10 FTs) to lead all scorers yesterday in the first-ever Classic contest, Faris today went 6 for 11 from the field and 4 for 4 at the free throw stripe. She also led the squad with six rebounds.
• Freshman DeDe Smith scored 11 points off the bench.

Ave Maria Highlights

• Colleen Shanahan made 6 of 8 field goal attempts to score a team-high 12 points and she pulled down a game-best nine rebounds.
• Katie Ambrose (6 points) led all student-athletes with five assists.

How it Happened 

• Ave Maria, which never trailed in the game, took a commanding 17-5 lead after the first quarter, closing on a 9-0 run over the last four minutes.
• Lawrence Tech made 28.3 percent of its field goal attempts (17-60) on the day, while AMU was 42.2 percent (27-64).
• The Blue Devils also hurt themselves by committing 17 turnovers that translated to 19 points for the Gyrenes.
• Ave Maria also won the glass with a 46-36 rebounding edge and outscored LTU 36-14 in the paint.
• The Gyrenes led 35-16 at the intermission and 54-30 after three quarters.

Beyond the Boxscore

• Ave Maria is a NAIA member out of the Sun Conference.
• The all-time series is now tied at one win apiece as LTU prevailed 73-56 at home in the first meeting during the 2021-22 campaign.
• In 13 games, LTU has allowed just one opponent to shoot 50 percent or better from the field in 2023-24.
• The Blue Devils also had a 5-8 record after 13 starts last season.
• Lawrence Tech ranks fourth in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference in scoring defense (64.5 points/game), opponents' field goal percentage (.381) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.283).

Up Next

• The Blue Devils will usher in 2024 with a return to WHAC action on Wednesday, Jan. 3, at Lourdes in Sylvania, Ohio.