St. Mary's City, Md. – Sophomore center Nina Haller (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) collected her fourth double-double of the season but the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team's bid for a second straight win fell short Wednesday night. York College of Pennsylvania posted a 67-56 come-from-behind win over the Seahawks in Capital Athletic Conference action.

St. Mary's (4-10, 4-5 CAC) remains fifth in the current CAC standings while the win puts York (7-9, 3-6 CAC) in a three-way tie for the sixth and final playoff spot with Wesley College (7-8, 3-6 CAC) and Penn State Harrisburg (4-12, 3-6 CAC).

The Seahawks hope to return to the win column this Saturday, January 24th by splitting the series with Marymount (Va.) University. The Saints visit the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena for a league matchup at 2:00 p.m. Marymount (11-5, 7-2 CAC), who is currently third in the conference, picked up a 57-37 win over SMCM early in the season on December 6th.

Haller tallied team-bests of 17 points and 14 rebounds for her third double-double in the month of January. Senior captain Matti Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge School) and first-year guard Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James School) each notched 12 points in contributing to the Seahawk offense as the duo combined for six of the team's seven three-pointers on the evening.

St. Mary's edged the Spartans on the glass by a 44-42 margin thanks to the rebounding efforts of Haller and junior captain Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends School). McClain finished the evening with a near triple-double as she equaled her career-best with 14 boards while adding eight points and six assists.

The Seahawks never trailed in the first half as St. Mary's scored 11 straight after York knocked down the game's opening basket as back-to-back three-pointers by Vagnoni had her team up 11-2 at 17:06. The Spartans twice tied the game but St. Mary's had enough firepower to just stay ahead of the Spartans.

Vagnoni and senior captain Maddie Hook (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) helped to maintain the Seahawks' 10-point lead with 5:02 remaining in the half. However, York closed out the half on an 11-3 run, including a long-range shot by sophomore guard Brianna Bisci (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) at the buzzer, to send St. Mary's into the locker room with just a 33-31 halftime lead.

Fourteen of the Seahawks' 33 first-half points came off of seven York turnovers while York earned 10 second-chance points. Vagnoni paced St. Mary's at intermission with 12 on 4-of-8 shooting from downtown while sophomore Sam Hruz (White Marsh, Md./Mercy) led all scorers with 13, including scoring 11 of the Spartans' first 14.

Turnovers and foul trouble derailed the Seahawks in the second half. Eleven SMCM miscues led to 20 points for York who outscored the home team, 36-23, over the final 20 minutes. The two sides traded leads in the first six minutes of the half as the contest tied four more times before Hruz's jumper gave the Spartans the lead at 14:07.

York stretched the lead to 48-42 at 11:10 on a two-point basket by junior guard Julianne Lambert (Hockessin, Del./Padua Academy). The Seahawks kept battling and regained a one-point lead at 7:48 as Haller tipped-in the rebound to cap an 8-1 run. The lead was short-lived and the Spartans end the game on a 17-7 run, including going 6-of-8 at the line.

Senior forward Shea Wassel (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic), this week's CAC Player of the Week, paced York with game-best 20 points and eight rebounds before fouling out while Hruz collected a double-double with 17 points and game-high 15 boards.

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