St. Mary's City, Md. – For the second straight game, first-year guard Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James School) led the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team in scoring as the Seahawks opened up the home-portion of their schedule Saturday afternoon. St. Mary's fought hard all game long but succumbed to a 62-52 non-conference loss to Shenandoah University.

Kline collected her game- and season-best 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers, plus a 7-of-10 effort from the free throw line. Sophomore center Nina Haller (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) picked up 13 points while leading the Seahawks in rebounding for the third straight game with seven boards.

It was a sloppy first half for both sides as neither team shot above 25% from the floor and combined for 23 turnovers. Shenandoah was able to take an 18-16 lead into the locker room at halftime following a three-point shot by junior guard Ashley McGhee (New Enterprise, Pa./Northern Bedford) with 14 seconds left in the half.

Kline led all scorers at halftime with seven points while first-year Kirstyn Arcata (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill) and first-year guard Breya Wallace (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) each had four first-half points to pace the Hornets.

The Seahawks (0-3) started the second stanza on a 6-3 run to reclaim the lead at 17:56 following a jumper by junior captain Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends School). Shenandoah (4-0) responded with a run of its own, scoring 13 of the next 18 points to stake a 34-27 advantage at 13:56.

Senior captain Matti Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge School) snapped an 0-for-18 streak from downtown with a three-pointer at 11:33 to cap a 7-0 Seahawk run that knotted the game at 34 all and then Vagnoni connected on another at 8:20 to give her team a 39-38 lead.

St. Mary's and the Hornets traded leads for the next four minutes with the Seahawks holding a 45-44 lead at 4:23 behind a Haller layup. With the home team missing an "and 1" opportunity and Shenandoah getting a defensive stop, the Hornets went up 51-47 at 3:07 and didn't look back as they closed out the game with a 9-of-10 effort at the line.

Wallace was Shenandoah's leading scorer with 17 off the bench while Arcata finished with 14. Sophomore Erin French (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) and first-year guard Kanesha Foster (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) helped the Hornets to a 47-37 rebounding margin with 10 boards apiece.

The Seahawks will regroup during the Thanksgiving break before opening up conference action at home against Salisbury University on Wednesday, December 3rd at 6:00 p.m.

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