Box
Score
St. Mary's City, Md. - Five players in double
digits helped No. 4 Messiah College escape the Athletics &
Recreation Center Arena with an 82-77 victory over the St. Mary's
College of Maryland women's basketball team Saturday afternoon in
non-conference action.
The Seahawks (6-2) dropped the five-point decision despite
receiving a game- and season-high 25 points from junior forward
Allie Scott (Laurel, Md./Atholton). Scott
also had seven caroms and a season-best three steals.
Messiah (9-1) jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead at 16:40 as the
Seahawks had trouble connecting on a field goal for the game's
first three minutes and made four turnovers in that time
frame. The Falcons pushed their scoring margin to 14 points
at 13:37 (21-7) and at 12:22 (23-9) and kept their double digit
lead intact until the last 2:40 of the half. Down 40-29, St.
Mary's closed out the stanza on a 10-2 run to trail only 42-39 at
halftime. The run was sparked by a trey from senior guard
Megan Uglik (Mt. Airy, Md./Linganore) and capped
by five points from Scott.
Freshman forward Angie Rapchinski (Ephrata,
Pa./Lititz Christian) notched 11 points off the bench on 3-of-4
shooting from downtown to pace the Falcons at intermission, while
junior forward Silalei Shani (Dakar, Senegal)
added 10 off the bench as well. The Seahawks were led by
Scott and sophomore guard Steph Saint-Aubin
(Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) as both players tallied 11 points.
Messiah once again quickly pulled away from St. Mary's in the
second half, owning a 59-46 advantage at 12:29 following a 17-7
run. The Hawks fought hard to stay within reach but faced a
10-point deficit (74-64) with 3:14 left in the contest. Using
a 13-6 run that included going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe,
SMCM pulled within 80-77 with eight ticks on the clock following an
Uglik layup. However, a pair of free throws by senior guard
Amy Reed (Wenatchee, Wash./Gettysburg) sealed the
win as the Seahawks turned the ball over on their last possession.
Senior guard Nikki Lobach (Hanover, Pa./South
Western) paced the Falcons with 22 points and a game-high seven
steals, while senior guard Lauren Schurr (Marlton,
N.J./Cherokee) contributed 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from behind
the arc. Rapchinski finished with 13 and seven rebounds and
Shani added a dozen points on 6-of-7 shooting. Reed chipped
in 11 points.
Freshman forward Tiara Hurte (Baltimore,
Md./Perry Hall) recorded her fourth double-double on 16 points and
a game-high 11 boards, while Saint-Aubin had 13 and junior forward
Kiely Murphy (Olney, Md./Good Counsel) added 11.
St. Mary's will return to action on December 29 when the
Seahawks face Cabrini College at the University of the Virgin
Islands Sunsational Tournament. No. 4 Messiah will take on
Concordia-Austin on December 20 in Cancun, Mexico.
