St. Mary's City, Md. – Junior forward Joanna Murray (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) notched the go-ahead basket with 45 seconds left in regulation and junior captain Jasmine Jones (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) poured in a career- and game-best 23 points as the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team notched their first win of the 2011-12 campaign.

The Seahawks (1-1) posted a 67-64 victory over New Jersey City University (0-1) Friday night in the opening round of the Cherry Cove Seahawk Tip-Off Tournament.  St. Mary's now advances to tomorrow's championship game at 3:00 pm against No. 17 Greensboro College, who was a 74-48 winner over Cabrini College in tonight's other matchup.

Along with her career-best 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the free throw line, Jones connected on a career-high three three-pointers while adding season-bests of four assists and three steals.  Joining Jones in double digit scoring was sophomore forward Shana Lewis (Bowie, Md./Bowie) with 11 points and seven rebounds.

New Jersey City Gothic Knights erased an 11-point second half deficit by outscoring the Seahawks, 27-16, in the final 11 minutes to knot the game at 64-64 with 1:36 remaining in the contest.  Junior Delia Chernez (Union City, N.J./Union City) sparked New Jersey City's rally with a jumper at 10:52 while junior forward Maxine Kaminski (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) notched 11 of the team's 27 points.  Junior Kerri Cassarello's (Keansburg, N.J./Keansburg) two free throws tied the game up at 64-all.

Following a steal by first-year guard Sarit Truskey (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase), Murray took a pass from Lewis and converted for the eventual go-ahead basket.  Sophomore Raven Owens (Arnold, Md./Severn School) connected on 1-of-2 free throws at 00:17 for a three-point Seahawk lead.  Junior guard Nidia Carmona (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) threw up a three-point shot as time expired but it was off target.

Sophomore Marché Pearson (Laurel, Md./Laurel) grabbed a team-best eight rebounds while adding six points and career-best three steals.

The Seahawks' biggest lead of the game was 14 points and it came in the first half as St. Mary's owned a 28-14 advantage with 4:26 until halftime.  The host school came up with a 31-22 halftime lead as Jones notched 11 first-half points.

As a team, St. Mary's shot 33.3% from the field while forcing New Jersey City to commit 30 turnovers which led to 24 points for the Seahawks.