The New College of Florida Mighty Banyans women's basketball fell to Ave Maria 69-62 on Wednesday.

In the early portion of the matchup, the Gyrenes got off to a quick 5 point lead after a layup was made by their leading scorer for the season, Lavariah Armstead. While the Banyans found some struggles early on to put points on the board, Carson Defries and Camila Zbynski came through with a couple treys of their own.

By the end of the first quarter, the Banyans found themselves right back in the ballgame only down by a score of 19-15.

Sierra Moore found her footing in the second quarter after a slow start being the leading scorer for the Banyans in that quarter with 4 points, while Halle Shelt and Carson Defries both drained a long ball to add 3 points of their own in that quarter and by the end of the quarter, the Banyans found themselves +3 in the turnover ratio.

At the end of the half, the Banyans clawed their way to be down three going into the final twenty minutes of play.

In the 3rd quarter, Halle Shelt showed her range with her best Caitlin Clark impression draining a three pointer from the logo, however the Gyrenes were able to manufacture their own offense with the help of Colleen Shanahan who registered 6 points in the quarter and helped the Gyrenes keep a three point lead going into the final quarter.

The Banyans entered the final quarter down by three points and with Sierra Moore and Sania Thomas both draining two field goals each, it looked like a Banyan comeback could be on the Sarasota horizon. However, the Gyrenes pulled away with ten points in the 4th quarter from Ella Thompson.

The final box score saw Carson Defries as the Banyans' leading scorer off the bench with 13 points including three makes from beyond the arc with Sierra Moore leading the way in rebounds with 8 and assists with 6.

The Banyans next matchup will take place at Hal Chasey Gymnasium on Saturday February 1 against Keiser University.