The Fire (15-5, 6-1 SUN) return home to The Furnace this Saturday preparing to take on the visiting Ave Maria Gyrenes (14-7, 5-2 SUN).
The last time these two teams met was on January 6th, in that matchup the Fire were handed their only Sun Conference loss this season. Poor shooting in that game led to a 66-53 loss for the Fire. Since then the Fire have posted six straight Sun Conference victories, including last week's 69-48 win at Florida Memorial University on Wednesday and a 87-45 road win over Warner University.
The Fire defense is the dominant feature this year for the women's basketball program, holding opponents to 56.1 points per game, ranking 14th in the NAIA. This defense is bolstered by 18 forced turnovers per game, 19 points off of those turnovers and 10.9 steals per contest. Bekki Kalaydjiev leads the team in steals with 2.7 steals per game and Anaya Coleman follows close behind with 31 total this year. Ariana Smuda defends the paint with just over one block per game while Rebecca Cook cleans the glass leading the team in rebounds with 8.2 per contest.
Offensively, the graduate Kalaydjiev also leads the way with 14.1 points per game, putting up 18 points against Warner. Forward Kiki Britzmann now also averages ten plus per contest. The Fire as a team average 70.4 points per game on a 41 percent shooting average. The points build up as the Fire assist on an average of 15.8 of their baskets which is third in the conference.
The Gyrenes of Ave Maria are hunting for first place in the conference and a sweep of the Fire this season. They were able to fend off Coastal Georgia in their most recent match by a score of 63-57, currently the Gyrenes sit at third in the conference behind St. Thomas and Southeastern.
The Gyrenes, barring the loss to St. Thomas and the victory over Southeastern, have played all conference games within ten points, going 3-1 in those games including an overtime victory over Webber International University.
Over the course of the season the Gyrenes have held teams to 63 points while averaging 69 points on offense. Ave Maria is led by Graduate Maria Kuhlmann who shoots 46 percent and averages 11.4 points per game, and also shoots 42 percent from behind the arc.
Kuhlmann is followed closely by Casey Humphrey who averages 10.5 per game and leads the team in steals with 35. Colleen Shanahan leads the teams in rebounds and Emily Rapacz and Isabella Starzyk deny close range baskets with 13 blocks each.
The game tips off on Saturday, February 3rd from the Furnace at 2 p.m.
You can purchase your tickets HERE
