Box Score
St. Mary's City, Md. – Sophomore guard Jasmine Jones (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) notched career-highs of 17 points and five steals as the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team opened up their own Cherry Cove Seahawk Tip-Off Tournament with their first victory of the 2010-11 campaign, defeating the Knights of Arcadia University, 67-57.
The Seahawks (1-1) now advance to tomorrow's championship game at 4:00 pm and will take on Virginia Wesleyan College. Virginia Wesleyan (1-0) posted a 57-53 win over Haverford College behind 16 points and eight rebounds from Symonne Newsome.
Arcadia (2-1) will play for third-place tomorrow against Haverford (1-1) at 2:00 pm in the consolation game.
St. Mary's had to overcome a seven-point deficit in the first half as seven points by junior guard Christine Taylor (Narvon, Pa./Garden Spot) put the Knights ahead 11-4 at 13:49. Jones sparked the Seahawks to a 14-6 run that was capped by a pair of free throws by first-year guard Shana Lewis (Bowie, Md./Bowie) for St. Mary's first lead of the game at 6:30.
The Seahawks never trailed again riding the momentum to a 32-22 halftime advantage. Pui Sham (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) gave her squad their biggest lead of the night, 13 (30-17), at 3:17 following back-to-back bombs by the sophomore guard. Jones and Lewis each had nine first-half points to pace the home team.
Lewis continued her remarkable start to her rookie campaign as she finished the night with 15 points and game-high eight rebounds, going 9-of-13 from the free throw line. Sham ended the game with 16 points and five caroms while sophomore forward Taylor Petrisko (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) added nine points, five boards, and three blocks off the bench.
After picking up 19 first-half turnovers, Arcadia added 19 more in the second half as a majority of the Knight miscues came from taking too many steps. The Knights could not completely dissipate the host's double-digit lead as Arcadia whittled down its 13-deficit to 52-48 at 6:18 on eight straight points by senior guard Kelly Donahue (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South).
St. Mary's finished out the game on a 15-9 run for its 10-point margin of victory and its first win of the season.
