St. Mary's City, Md. – Four Seahawks scored in double figures Saturday afternoon as the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team halted their eight-game slide with a 69-52 Capital Athletic Conference win over Penn State Harrisburg on Youth Appreciation Day.

The Seahawks (1-8, 1-3 CAC) overcame a four-point halftime deficit for their first win of the season with a second-half urge that saw them outscore Penn State Harrisburg (3-7, 2-2 CAC) by a 40-19 margin over the final 20 minutes.

First-year guard Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James School) paced St. Mary's in the victory with 16 points as well as season-bests of eight rebounds and three assists. Sophomore center Nina Haller (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) picked up her second double-double of the season with 13 points and team-best 10 boards.

St. Mary's opened up the second stanza with a 14-0 run to establish a 43-33 advantage as well as its first lead of the day at 13:26 behind two of senior captain Maddie Hook's (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) season-high 13 points. The Lions used a quick 9-4 spurt to cut the deficit to five at 10:07 as first-year guard Christine Mabry (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) knocked down a trey to cap the run.

Penn State Harrisburg, however, would get no closer as the Seahawks owned a double-digit lead for the final 7:31 of the contest. St. Mary's biggest lead of the game was 69-49 at 1:55 as first-year guard Olivia Nowlin (Glenelg, Md./Glenelg) made both of her free throws.

Hook, who finished the day with 13 points off the bench, added season-best five rebounds while senior captain Matti Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge School) kept the offense running smoothly by equally her career-high of five assists. Junior captain Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends School) was the final Seahawk in double-digits with season-best 13 points plus season-high three steals.

Penn State Harrisburg controlled the first half en route to a 33-29 halftime lead as the Lions shot 41.4% from the field, including 4-of-12 from downtown, but Harrisburg put the Seahawks on the line 11 times in the first half and St. Mary's capitalized by only missing two free throws. The Lions started the game by outscoring the hosts, 17-6, in the first eight minutes and then held on for the four-point halftime lead.

First-year forward Janel Brown (Gaithersburg, Md./Magruder) led all scorers at intermission with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including making all three of long-range attempts, while McClain was the Seahawk scoring leader with nine on 4-of-5 shooting.

Brown ended the afternoon with a double-double on game-highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds while junior guard Jasmine Yanich (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) contributed 10 points and four caroms.

After putting its first win of the season in the books, St. Mary's hosted a free clinic for all the local youth in conjunction with Youth Appreciation Day. The Seahawks had the opportunity to work with approximately 30 youth, teaching them various basketball skills.

The Seahawks hope to continue their winning ways on Wednesday, January 7th as St. Mary's travels to Western Maryland to take on Frostburg State University in Capital Athletic Conference action at 6:00 p.m.

About Youth Appreciation Day: Any current Sunday Youth Basketball League (SYBL) or Recreation & Parks Sports team members that wore his or her jersey to the game as well as their immediate family (parents, siblings) received FREE admission to both the women's and men's games. Following the end of the men's contest, both teams participated in the FREE one-hour clinic for all youth in attendance.

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