LAKE WALES, Fla. - Warner University women's basketball team ended the final week of the regular season on a high note with a 66-52 victory over Ave Maria University on Saturday afternoon.  The win is the third in a row for the Lady Royals this week and improves their record to 9-18 overall.  It also improves their Sun Conference record to 5-13, good enough for the eighth overall seed in next week's Sun Conference tournament.

Prior to the start of the game the Lady Royals honored their three seniors on the 2014-15 roster: Eliana Albert, Marie Fleurival and Hannah Kotzen.

At the first media timeout of the game, the Gyrenes had built a 7-4 lead over the Lady Royals.  A quick 9-0 run changed all that and the Lady Royals were out front 13-7 with 11:55 to go before halftime.  The Gyrenes came right back with 7-0 run of their own and led briefly 14-13 before Hannah Kotzen drained her first three pointer of the game to put Warner ahead for the rest of the half. 

Kotzen was in the mix again as time expired connecting on her second shot of the half from behind the arc giving the Lady Royals a 28-21 lead going into halftime.  As a team the Lady Royals shot 5-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half.  Baylie Bridges led all players with 10 points in the first half and was 2-of-2 from behind the arc.

The Gyrenes came out of halftime and cut the Warner lead down to two with five straight points, 28-26.  The Lady Royals maintained the edge thanks to 54.2% shooting from the field in the second half and ran their lead to 12 points, 42-30, with 11:57 to go.  Two minutes later Corlisa Pope put the Lady Royals ahead by 13 points, 45-32.

Down the stretch the Lady Royals led by as many as 16 points.  Kotzen ended the Lady Royals' scoring with a free throw in the final minute giving the Royals a 66-52 victory in their regular season finale.

Baylie Bridges led all scorers with 19 points in the win.  She finished 8-of-12 from the field and was 3-of-4 from behind the arc.  Kotzen scored 12 points in her home finale and also had three assists.  Maria Fleurival finished with eight points and two steals before fouling out.  Eliana Albert pulled down a team-high six rebounds and added three points as well.

The Lady Royals will now enter The Sun Conference Tournament as the eighth seed and travel to Miami Gardens, Fla. to take on top seeded and No. 24 St. Thomas University on Tuesday night, Feb. 24.  The Bobcats won the regular season conference title with a 17-1 record (24-4 overall).  A tip-off time is to be determined.  Visit the conference tournament page for all scheduling and game time updates.