BRADENTON, Fla. - NCF Women's Basketball dropped a nail-biter in its Sun Conference opener Wednesday, falling 65-62 at home to Ave Maria.
After Ave Maria outscored NCF 16-9 in the second quarter, the Gyrenes took a 25-19 lead into halftime.
NCF answered by opening the second half on a 12-0 run to go on top 31-25, but by the end of the quarter, Ave Maria regained a slim 47-46 lead.
A back-and-forth fourth quarter saw Ave Maria outscore NCF 18-16 to secure a narrow 65-62 win and move to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 in Sun Conference play.
In her season debut, senior CiCi Moore led NCF with 19 points and 15 rebounds, securing a double-double. She was joined in double figures by Sania Thomas (14) and Gwen Tsoukalas (10).
Tatina Jackson secured six rebounds off the bench, starting point guard Camila Zbynski picked up a team-high three steals and also dished three assists, while both Moore and Thomas each had two blocks.
With the loss, NCF is now 2-2 overall on the season and 0-1 in conference play. The Mighty Banyans will be back in action Saturday when it takes on Florida Memorial in Miami Gardens at 2 p.m. EST.
