Buena Vista, Va. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team picked up their second consecutive victory with a convincing 60-45 road win over Southern Virginia University Saturday afternoon.

Senior Sophie Pruden (Carrboro, N.C./Chapel Hill) highlighted a quartet of Seahawks who scored in double digits as the team matched their longest win streak of the season. Pruden tallied game-bests of 15 points and nine rebounds while sophomore guard Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends School) put up a career-best 14 points and three boards.

The game featured four tied scores and three lead changes – all in the first nine minutes of the first half. Southern Virginia (2-9) biggest lead of the game was an 11-8 margin at 12:59 following a jumper by sophomore center Crystal Cleveland (Delran, N.J.). St. Mary's used a 16-5 run to commandeer a lead it would never relinquish.

The Seahawks (5-7) entered the locker room with a 33-22 advantage at halftime as McClain sealed the double-digit lead with a jumper with two ticks on the clock. Pruden and senior forward Marché Pearson (Baltimore, Md./Laurel) each tallied eight first-half points to pace St. Mary's, who shot 40.0% (14-of-35) from the floor.

Sophomore forward Shannon Romito (Walker, La.) led all players with 10 points and added a team-best four rebounds at intermission but it was the Seahawks who owned a 21-15 rebounding margin following first-half action.

Junior guard Matti Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge School) finished the day with 12 points, five caroms, a season-best four assists, and two steals as Vagnoni shot 4-of-6 from downtown while Pearson ended her afternoon with 10 points and five rebounds.

St. Mary's defense held Romito, the team's second-leading scorer, to just one point in the second half on 0-of-5 shooting while the Seahawk offense maintained their double-digit grip on the lead, stretching it to 17 (60-43) at 1:09 by shooting 48.0% (12-of-25) from the field.

Romito finished the game with 11 points, eight boards, and two steals for the Knights while sophomore forward Melynda Boren (Lund, Nev.) came off the bench to contribute 10 points, two caroms, and two assists.

The Seahawks hope to keep their win streak alive on Wednesday, January 15th as St. Mary's travels to No. 14 York College of Pennsylvania (13-0, 6-0 CAC) for a conference tilt at 6:00 p.m.

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