Eagles Finish off Flames in Final Game of 2023

OMAHA, Neb. – Avila women's basketball (3-9) finished out the 2023 slate of the campaign with an excellent finish, outscoring College of Saint Mary (1-11) by eight points in the fourth quarter in what ended up as a comfortable 63-52 victory for the Eagles on Saturday afternoon in Omaha shortly before the start of the new year.

This end-of-December contest between two teams with nearly identical records was about as evenly-matched as could be expected. With the Avila offense scuffling out of the gates Saint Mary raced out to an 8-0 lead over the first three minutes of play, but the Eagles did not stay quiet for long: right after Shyann Mayhue made a pair of free throws to give the Flames their largest lead, Abrianna Leiker set up Madilyn Melton for a two and then Marlie Wright set up Hannah Pinkston for a three, and Avila was off and running.

A clutch three from Eireon Adams with about two minutes left helped Avila cut its early deficit down to 11-10, and that's where the scoreline remained after the opening ten minutes of play. The Flames struck first to open the second quarter, but Melton converted on a second-chance opportunity to give the Eagles their first lead, 14-13, with about 8:20 to play in the first half.

The Eagles were in the driver's seat for the rest of the half. Buckets from Leiker and Wright kept the visitors in front before Wright ultimately cashed in from beyond the arc to give the Eagles their largest lead, 21-17, with 4:40 to play. The Flames managed to level the score at 23 before Wright set up Melton to put the Eagles back in front and Daisy Washington converted a Melton steal into a transition bucket to keep the Eagles in front 27-25 at the halftime break.

The Flames hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half and stayed similarly hot to open the second half, quickly grabbing the lead back and forcing the Eagles to play from behind, much like they had to do in the first quarter. And just like they did in the first quarter, the Eagles rallied.

Avila trailed by as many as four in the third before Anastasia Wright grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds and eventually stuck a putback to level the score at 37 with 3:24 to play, and then Hannah Smith connected on her first two field goals of the game while the Eagle defense held the Flames without a field goal over the final three minutes of the third to take a 41-38 lead heading into the final period of play.

CSM's Sidney Anderson hit a pair of free throws early in the period to cut Avila's lead to 41-40, but it was absolutely all Avila from there – the Eagles flipped a game that had mostly been even into a one-sided affair with an excellent fourth quarter performance. Smith started the show with a deep ball and though Anderson countered with a bucket of her own, the Eagles then held the Flames off the board for the next five minutes.

Meanwhile, the Eagle offense executed on the other end to begin putting the finishing touches on the result. Smith and Leiker headed up the scoring efforts, with Mia Smith mixing in a bucket to give Avila a double-digit lead for the first time, 53-42, with three minutes left, and CSM simply did not have enough time to make up the difference. The Eagles outscored the Flames by 14 over the middle stages of the fourth quarter – and by eight points in the period overall – to ultimately earn a comfortable 63-52 victory less than 36 hours before the end of the calendar year.

Madison Camden led the Flames, who were playing without their leading scorer, with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Anderson scored 11 off the bench. Avila held CSM to 29% shooting from the field and 21% (4-of-19) from beyond the arc. Hannah Smith led Avila with 15 points, all of which came in the second half, on 5-of-9 shooting; Leiker scored 12 on the same field goal clip; Marlie Wright finished with 11 points, four rebounds and a game-high five assists; Melton scored eight points along with 11 rebounds and a game-high four blocks.

Up next, Avila women's basketball will turn its attention to 2024, where the Eagles will kick off the new year with a return to KCAC competition on Wednesday, January 3. The conference's other Eagles team, Oklahoma Wesleyan, will head to Kansas City for a conference doubleheader that begins with the women's game at 6 PM and the men's game at 8 PM; as always, you can watch all the action live and for free on the Avila Sports Network with Joe Van Amburg on the call from Mabee Fieldhouse.