St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team put together a solid performance Saturday afternoon in facing Marymount (Va.) University. The Seahawks fell short of the win as Marymount posted a 70-60 Capital Athletic Conference win to complete the series sweep.

St. Mary's (4-11, 4-6 CAC) is now in a two-way tie for fifth with Wesley College (7-9, 4-6 CAC) in the current CAC standings but the Seahawks currently hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with Wesley.

The Seahawks hope to return to the win column on Wednesday, January 28th by splitting the series with CAC leader, No. 17 Salisbury University (16-1, 10-0 CAC). St. Mary's will make the trek to the Eastern Shore looking to avenge its 69-58 loss to the Sea Gulls on December 3rd. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.

Though the result was the same as their December 6th meeting at Marymount, St. Mary's improved greatly in several categories. For one, the margin of defeat was cut in half. The Seahawks also shot the ball better, especially from downtown as the team made nearly 41% of their three-point attempts.

St. Mary's connected on a season-high 11 three-pointers as they were buoyed by a season-high five treys from senior captain Matti Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge). Vagnoni finished the game with a season-best 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. She also added season-high four steals and three assists.

As a team, the Seahawks posted a 34.5-field goal percentage for the game, which was nearly a 17% improvement from their December matchup. St. Mary's was especially on point in the second half as they shot nearly 47% from the field. The free throw line was their friend on Saturday as the Seahawks only missed once in going 11-of-12 at the charity stripe for a season-best 91.7-free throw percentage.

Sophomore guard Haley Riebling (Ellicott City, Md./Seton Keough) contributed 12 points off the bench with three strikes from downtown while fellow classmate Nina Haller (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) added 10 points, six rebounds, and three blocks.

Marymount (12-5, 8-2 CAC) started out with a five-point lead but Vagnoni's sharpshooting put the Seahawks on top, 18-14, at 7:20 as she drained three three-pointers in a 15-6 run. The Saints responded by closing out the half on an 18-5 run for a 32-23 halftime lead.

The first half featured four tied scores and four lead changes. Twelve of St. Mary's 23 points came off nine first-half turnovers by the Saints while Marymount dominated in the paint, 16-0, and grabbed a 24-13 rebounding margin. Vagnoni led all scorers with her 15 points while junior Miranda Krott (Temple, Pa./Oley Valley) paced the Saints with a dozen.

Marymount stretched its lead to 14 at 15:11 with a 13-8 run to start the second stanza. However, the Seahawks worked to keep the deficit manageable and closed the gap to seven twice in the final 2:23 of the contest. A pair of free throws at 2:23 by junior captain Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends School) made it 60-53 and helped St. Mary's outscore the Saints, 22-15, over almost a 13-minute span.

Riebling's third triple of the day with 41 seconds to go got the Seahawks within seven (65-58) once again but Marymount sealed the deal by going 5-of-6 at the line down the stretch.

Junior guard Kievanna Lacey (Morrisville, Pa./Morrisville) nearly completed the triple-double with game-highs of 21 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists to lead the Saints to their third straight win. First-year Nicole Viscuso (Phoenix, Md./Hereford) came off the bench to chip in 13 and seven while Krott finished with 12 and eight.

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