Box
Score
St. Mary's City, Md. - It was a fitting end to
Senior Day as senior guard Stephanie Saint-Aubin
(Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) knocked down the game-winning lay-up
with 15 seconds remaining in regulation, giving St. Mary's College
of Maryland a hard-fought 61-59 win over York (Pa.) College in
Capital Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon.
Saint-Aubin connected with first-year guard Pui
Sham (Springfield, Va./W. Springfield) for the eventual
game-winner, forcing York to call a timeout with 13.6 seconds on
the clock to design a potential game-tying play. On the
ensuing play, sophomore guard Khadija Mitchell
(Bel Air, Md./Mercy), who had knotted the game at 59-all just 40
seconds earlier, threw up an off-balance jumper as time expired and
junior forward Jamie Roberts (Rockville,
Md./Barrie) snared the defensive board.
With the win, the Seahawks (9-14, 8-7 CAC) not only swept the
season series with York but clinched the fourth seed in the
upcoming CAC tournament which begins next Tuesday, February 23 with
first round action. St. Mary's will see the Spartans (11-14,
7-9 CAC) for a third time this season in the CAC First Round next
week as YCP finished the regular-season fifth in the league
standings.
Before the Seahawks focus on facing York in the playoffs, SMC
will wrap up the regular season tomorrow evening at No. 23/25
University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. Tip-off
is set for 5:00 pm.
Roberts recorded her first career double-double with 19
points and a career- and game-high 10 rebounds while first-year
forward Taylor Petrisko (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake)
matched her season-highs of 12 points and nine boards and senior
center Alex Wenger (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall)
added 10 points and eight caroms.
Neither team was extremely crisp in the execution of their plays
in the first half, combining for 23 miscues, while both squads
struggled to have their shots fall early on. St. Mary's and
the Spartans, however, did fire in seven three-pointers. No
one owned a lead greater than five points until the final 4:22
minutes as the Seahawks put together a 9-2 run to boast their
biggest lead of eight points following a layup by
Petrisko at 1:42. Mitchell
cut the lead to 33-27 at halftime with her jumper at 00:05.
Four Spartans reached double figures with
Mitchell leading the way with 18 points and six
steals off the bench while junior forward Jaimie
Sapp (Bluemont, Va./Loudoun Valley) contributed a dozen
points and eight rebounds. Junior guard April
Sparkman (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) chipped in 11
points and eight boards while senior guard Jamie
Polan (York, Pa./West York) had 10 points.
The second half saw York working itself back into the game with
short runs here and there and shutting down the Seahawks' perimeter
offense.
