Basketball Falls to Ave Maria 69-63

The Brenau basketball team lost a hard-fought opening game to visiting Ave Maria (Fla.) University 69-63 on Thursday in Gainesville.

In the first quarter, the Gyrenes started fast by jumping out to a 25-18 lead. However, the Golden Tigers responded in the second quarter with hot shooting as Claire Zimmerman and Autumn Dodson combined to hit three consecutive three-pointers to take a 40-36 halftime lead.

After the intermission, the Golden Tigers hot shooting cooled off as the home team missed six consecutive shots at the rim. However Brenau kept the score close throughout the fourth quarter as Quinnesha Turner drove and dished to Maegan Kenimer to cut the score to five points.

Dominique Patrick then hit a three pointer with two minutes remaining to cut the Ave Maria lead to 2, but Brenau was unable to take the lead in the final minutes.

"I am proud of the way our team competed," said head coach Kris Stewart. "This was a very tough game between two good teams and we just couldn't finish shots down the stretch. I am really pleased with our effort and it will serve us well this season."

Patrick led the Golden Tigers with a career-high 19 points, while Zimmerman added 11. Nekeia Brown added nine points and seven rebounds.

Ave Maria's Annie Artise led all scorers with 25 points.

Brenau shot 37% (20-54) from the floor and 46% (6-13) from three-point range, while Ave Maria shot 39% (22-56) from the floor and 31% (4-13) from deep.

Brenau next plays host to Montreat (NC) College on Saturday at 2 pm eastern time in Gainesville.