ADRIAN, Mich. -- The No. 22 Siena Heights women's basketball team cruised to a 79-53 win over Aquinas in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) matchup on Wednesday night. Peyton Banks (Wadsworth, Ohio) led the Saints in points (19), rebounds (8), steals (2), and blocks (2) to lead the team to the win.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Siena Heights 79, Aquinas 53
Location: Adrian, Michigan (SHU Fieldhouse)
Records: Siena Heights (9-1, 5-0 WHAC), Aquinas (5-5, 3-1 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The visiting Saints jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the opening two minutes of the game. Addyson Tomczak (Bay City, Mich.) hit a jumper from three and Banks hit a layup to give Siena the 7-6 lead with 7:24 remaining in the first. A free throw by Camaryia Williams knotted things at seven before a SHU 10-2 run put the home town Saints in front for good, 17-9, with 4:45 left on the clock in the opening quarter.
Siena Heights continued to build on the lead in the second quarter by using an 11-3 run for a 20-point advantage (46-26) with just 48 ticks left in the first half.
The lead remained in the double-digits throughout the third quarter. A layup by Kelsey Wyman (Blissfield, Mich.) with 50 seconds left in the third stanza gave the SHU Saints their largest lead of the game, 67-37.
Aquinas went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter and cut the navy and gold Saints lead to 21 points, 67-46, with 7:31 remaining in regulation, but the visitors could not overcome Siena Heights.
TOP SAINTS
• Banks shot 7-9 form the floor, 3-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 from the line to lead the team in scoring.
• Demi Russell (Toledo, Ohio) tallied 11 points on 4-6 shooting while hauling in five rebounds.
• Anaya Powell (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had two steals and added four points to the cause.
• Tomczak led the team with five assists to go along with her six points.
THE OPPOSITION
• Camaryia Williams was the leader for Aquinas with 19 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
• Marissa Brady totaled eight points in the losing effort.
UP NEXT
#22 Siena Heights will look to start 6-0 in conference play on Saturday when they host #7 Indiana Tech in a WHAC conference showdown. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., EST.
