Glendale, AZ. – The #13 Lady Firestorm used a stifling defense and clutch shooting from Graciela Roybal and Lauren Gunn to pull away in the second half and defeat the Spirit of Ottawa University (AZ) 79-60.  Gunn led the team in scoring with 20 points, followed closely by Roybal with 17 points.  Junior Emily Till recorded 10 rebounds and handed out 6 assists.
 
It was a tight first quarter with the Spirit controlling the tempo for much of the period.  Ottawa point guard Angel Addleman scored seven in the period to lead the Spirit.  But the Firestorm received balanced scoring with four different players finding the bottom of the net to keep the score close at 21-19.
 
The Firestorm gave themselves some breathing room in the second quarter.  They used an 8-0 run over a three-minute period of the quarter to turn a one-point game into a nine-point lead.  Roybal scored five in the period, and Gunn chipped in four points.  The Spirit, behind eight more points from Addleman were able to cut the lead down to three by halftime.
 
It was all Firestorm in the second half.  The team extended their lead to eleven in the third period, and then exploded for fourteen straight points to begin the fourth quarter before the Spirit could even score a point.  Halle Payne got the scoring started with a jumper, and was followed by back-to-back three pointers from Roybal before Gunn would score the next six points off a three-pointer followed by a layup and foul.  After Gunn's free throw, the lead had ballooned to twenty-five points, and the Firestorm never looked back in rolling to victory, and keeping their GSAC record unblemished.
 
Thoughts from Head Coach Rusty Rogers
"It was another game where we played in peaks and valleys, but with that said, the run we went on in the second half was incredible - taking a tight contest into a twenty plus point differential.  OUAZ has been dealt a difficult hand in terms of injuries and I thought that played their hearts out, but just ran out of gas while our depth really shined."
 
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