ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's basketball team hosted Aquinas in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference contest on Wednesday night. The Saints battled and walked away with the 54-53 victory.
Aquinas controlled most of the first half, taking their first lead about halfway through the first and maintaining the lead throughout. With 3:25 remaining in the first half, AQ opened their lead to 12 points. SHU was able to lessen the gap slightly and went into halftime trailing 30-22.
In the third period, Siena Heights reduced their deficit to four but then ended the period down 40-34. The fourth quarter was a battle, with SHU throwing their best punch and eventually tying the ball game at 52 with 1:06 left in the contest. Shortly after, Aquinas drained one of two free throws, giving them back a one point advatage. With 36 seconds remaining in the game, Demi Russell bullied her way to the basket and knocked in the go-ahead layup. From there, the SHU Saints would hold off the AQ Saints and walk away with the one point victory.
From the floor, Siena Heights finished 23-64 (35.9%), 4-17 (23.5%) from three and 4-8 (50%) from the free throw line. Aquinas connected on 21-58 (36.2%) of their attempts from the field, 4-18 (22.2%) from behind the arc and 7-13 (53.8%) from the charity stripe.
Alyssa Larson led the Saints in scoring with 12 points and added eight rebounds and two blocks. Demi Russell tacked on 11 points. Taylar McNeal finished with a team high 11 rebounds to go with seven points while Azalea Miller dished out four assists.
For Aquinas Michaela Faber led the way with 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Momo Neal added 14 points.
Next up, SHU will travel to take on Madonna in it's final game of the regular season. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. and will be played at Lawrence Tech.