FOURTH-QUARTER RUN AND WRIGHT’S 1,000TH POINT HELP WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TO BIG WIN OVER STERLING

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With just three games remaining in the regular season, Avila women's basketball needed a big win on Saturday afternoon to stay in the postseason race. The Eagles got just that, defeating Sterling, 80-71 on Senior Day, snapping the program's five-game losing streak.

Fourteen lead changes between the two teams with no lead going higher than nine in the contest went right down to the wire.

Sterling was up 21-14 after the first, its largest lead of the game.

Avila was unable to hit many shots in the first quarter, but turned things around in the second.

Trailing by seven to start, Avila came back and took the lead less than four minutes into the quarter on a layup from Marlie Wright.

Junior Ava Baker came up big in the second, knocking down a pair of three-pointers to help Avila cut into the lead and trail by just one as the third quarter began.

In addition to a tight ballgame, a bit of history was made in the third quarter.

With 6:38 to go, Marlie Wright hit a three-pointer to not only give Avila a 46-43 lead, but it also sent Wright over the 1,000-point mark in her three-year Avila career.

As was the case for in the first half, the teams alternated scoring possessions for the remainder of the quarter and the Warriors held a 57-53 lead entering the fourth quarter.

The Eagles won the game in the final 10 minutes.

In the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, Avila outscored Sterling 12-0 – punctuated by a three-pointer from Kathleen Stanley – to take a lead that they would not give back.

After Sterling hit a pair of free throws, Wright knocked down another three, moving Avila's quarter-opening run to 15-2, giving the Eagles all the momentum it would need.

The Warriors came back, bringing it to within one with 2:28 to play. From that point, Avila went 10-of-12 from the free throw line to put the game away and give the Eagles an enormous conference victory in the final home game of the season.

Avila got 25 points from its reserves in the game, but were led by Wright and Melton, who each scored 20. Stanley finished her final Mabee Fieldhouse contest with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from deep.

Still fighting for a spot in the KCAC Tournament, Avila ends its regular season with two road games at York on Wednesday and at Tabor on Feb. 21. 

The 13 Eagle wins this season are its most since 2021-22.

 (photo credit: Ixtla Banda)