St. Mary's City, Md. – Seniors Sophie Pruden (Carrboro, N.C./Chapel Hill) and Marché Pearson (Baltimore, Md./Laurel) scored in double figures as the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team opened up the home portion of their 2013-14 schedule Saturday afternoon.

The Seahawks (0-3) dropped an 83-79 non-conference decision to the visiting Shenandoah University Hornets (1-3) in a back-and-forth game that saw the lead change 12 times.

Pruden garnered her third consecutive double-double as she led all players with career-highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds. The 6-0 forward/center shot 10-of-16 from the field and went 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Pruden is currently averaging a double-double with 19.0 points per game and 12.0 rebounds a game.

Pearson contributed to St. Mary's strong play with a career-best 19 points and season-high six rebounds. The Seahawks posted a +4 rebounding margin for the game as Pruden and Pearson combined for half of the team's 38 rebounds.

Shenandoah jumped out to a 10-2 lead at 14:49 on a jumper by first-year Mary Severin (Reston, Va./South Lakes) before sophomore guard Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends School) sparked a 12-3 run with a three-point play for the Seahawks' first lead of the game.

The Hornets boasted their biggest lead of 11 at 4:35 following a 14-2 run over a four-minute span and headed into halftime with a 40-32 advantage as senior guard Crystal Petrus (Fairfax, Va./Chantilly) finished off a last-second layup.

Pruden led the Seahawks into intermission with 10 points and six rebounds while junior forward Holly Chittenden (Boyds, Md./Poolesville) and Petrus paced SU with 10 points each following first-half play. Shenandoah shot 50% (15-of-30) to St. Mary's 38.7% (12-of-31) and gained a 21-16 edge in the rebounding battle in the first 20 minutes.

St. Mary's worked diligently to claw away at the Hornets' advantage, shooting at nearly a 58% clip (15-of-26) over the final 20 minutes. The Seahawks opened up the second half with a 14-5 run to reclaim the lead at 14:36, stretching their lead to 58-48 as junior guard Matti Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge) capped off the team's 26-8 start to the half with her team-leading 10th three-pointer of the year.

Shenandoah responded with a 17-6 run of its own to retake the lead for good at 5:10 en route to its first win of the season. Petrus finished the game with 25 points while Chittenden tallied 13 points and nine boards.

The Seahawks will travel to Ashland, Virginia on Tuesday, November 26 to take on Randolph-Macon College in a pre-Thanksgiving game at 7:00 pm.

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