[Women's Basketball] No. 6 Marian pulls away late to hand St. Ambrose first loss
St. Ambrose went toe to toe with No. 6 Marian for more than three quarters before the Knights pulled away in the fourth for a 74-51 win on the second day of the Oak Hill Inn and Suites Classic in Canton, Mo.
The Bees overcame a shaky first quarter to outscore the Knights 32-31 over the second and third periods to stay close.
But a poor-shooting fourth quarter doomed SAU. The Bees hit just 3-of-14 attempts from the field over the final 10 minutes as the Knights broke things open by connecting on 10 of their 14 shots in the period.
St. Ambrose still trailed just 63-51 on a Kylie Wroblewski layup with 3:33 to play, but SAU would not score again as Marian closed the game on an 11-0 run.
It was a sluggish first quarter that put the Bees in an early hole. Eight turnovers and 4-of-12 shooting left St. Ambrose staring at a 19-9 deficit.
SAU got as close as 19-14 on a Charlotte Flynn 3-pointer early in the second quarter but still trailed 34-24 at the break.
A 7-0 run, featuring free throws from Jamie Martens and Wroblewski sandwiched around a Madi Epperson 3-pointer, closed the gap to five points at 42-37 with just over three minutes remaining in the third. Marian (2-0) extended the lead to 50-41 entering the fourth.
Gabrielle Koelker started the final period with a free throw to trim the margin to eight points but the Knights quickly built a double-digit lead before pulling away.
The Bees shot just 28.6 percent for the game and finished with 21 turnovers in falling to 1-1 on the year.
Wroblewski led St. Ambrose with 16 points and nine rebounds. Epperson and Flynn each scored nine.
Martens and Colleen Grady were second to Wroblewski with six rebounds apiece in the loss.
St. Ambrose will open CCAC play at home Wednesday against Trinity Christian. Tip off at Lee Lohman Arena is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.