Gilbert, AZ. – The #13 Lady Firestorm have shown they can win with defense and offense, and on Saturday afternoon they did it with offense.  Their 94 points was the fourth most they have scored in a game this season, but it was still a close game till the very end.
 
Graduate senior Alyssa Alvarez scored 26 points, and junior Emily Till had her seventh double-double, and sixteenth double figure rebounding game scoring 16 points and grabbing 13 rebounds; she also found time to hand out six assists.  Off the bench, Lauren Gunn had her second straight 20-point game for the Firestorm.
 
For a game that proved in the end to be high flying and fast paced, the Firestorm got off to a slow start.  Park-Gilbert scored the first seven points of the game and held ACU scoreless for the first three and a half minutes.  It was Alvarez who finally broke the ice with a layup that was quickly followed by a three pointer from Gunn.  Gunn would hit a second three pointer with seventeen seconds remaining in the first period which officially turned the ice to water and helped give the team a 19-14 lead at the end of the period.
 
The second quarter saw both teams get hot from the field.  The teams shot a combined 60% from the field, but no one was hotter than Alvarez who hit 6-7 from the field and scored 12 points in the period.  Graciela Roybal and Kayla Clark both hit three pointers helping the team to keep up with Park-Gilbert who hit five three pointers of their own in the period. The Firestorm was outscored 29-28, but still maintain their lead heading into halftime. 
 
Coming out of the half, Alvarez stayed hot scoring nine points while Till started to do her damage scoring six points and grabbing four boards in the quarter.  Park-Gilbert continued to shoot the ball well, but it seemed like the Firestorm always had an answer.  Alvarez and Till helped to give the Firestorm a slight edge for the period despite Park-Gilberts efforts, and to hold a six point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
In the fourth, with Park-Gilbert still fighting, it was the play off the bench from Gunn and freshman Alana Washington, who each scored nine points in the period, that proved to be the difference.  Park-Gilbert had pulled within one point on Kayla Schroeder's layup at the 8:53 mark when Washington responded with back-to-back layups to create some breathing room.  Moments later, Washington hit a three pointer and another layup to keep the Firestorm lead at six points with 4:41 remaining in the game.  Then, after a layup from Till and a three pointer from freshman Taylor Schwab, it was Gunn's turn to seal the game from the free throw line.  Gunn made a couple layups and went 5-5 from the free throw line over the final three minutes to help ACU slowly pull away and eventually win on the road by ten points, 94-84. 
 
Thoughts from Head Coach Rusty Rogers
"Really proud of our team – once again stepping up in a difficult environment against a team that can really, really shoot the basketball!  Contributions from so many of our ladies but Alyssa Alvarez was not going to let us lose today!"
 
GAME INFO