Winchester, Va. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team ventured out of conference action Saturday afternoon, fighting in another close matchup. St. Mary's, unfortunately, dropped a 52-47 decision to the host Shenandoah University Hornets.

Sophomore guard Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James) paced the Seahawks in scoring with 17 points while first-year forward Kobe Chaney (Annapolis, Md./South River) recorded her third consecutive double-double with 16 points and a game- and season-best 14 rebounds.

St. Mary's (3-4) edged the Hornets (3-5), 43-42, in rebounding as senior guard Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends) also finished with double-digit rebounds, pulling down a season-best 11 boards.

The Seahawks collected a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter behind back-to-back three-pointers from Kline and sophomore guard Bella Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge School) in a 31-second span, finishing off an 8-0 run. The run turned around a 9-5 deficit at 3:49. Senior guard Tori Poffenberger (Sharpsburg, Md./Boonsboro) led the team with four points off the bench, including the first two points of the run.

Shenandoah reclaimed a four-point advantage at 5:44 as the Hornets started the second stanza with a 10-2 run. SU held on to the four-point lead until the final minute of the half when consecutive jumpers by Chaney sent the two teams into the locker room deadlocked at 23-23.

Chaney led all players with eight points and nine rebounds as the Seahawks owned a 24-19 margin on the glass. Three Hornets tallied six points each in the first 20 minutes and sophomore Kirstyn Arcata (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill) grabbed five caroms.

St. Mary's outscored the Hornets, 28-16, in the paint for the game; however, ice-cold shooting from the perimeter over the last three quarters of the game (0-for-14) hindered any opportunities for the Seahawks to pull away from Shenandoah.

SMCM owned a 27-23 lead at 7:37 of the third period on a layup by sophomore guard Olivia Nowlin (Glenelg, Md./Glenelg). Shenandoah used a 10-4 run to hold a 33-31 lead after three quarters of play. In the fourth, the Hornets built a 10-point lead (47-37) which the Seahawks could not overcome in time.

First-year guard Shannon Kuhn (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) finished the day with a game-high 18 points while Arcata contributed 11 and junior forward Erin French (Silver Spring, Pa./Paint Branch) hauled in a dozen rebounds with seven points.

The Seahawks will be back in action next Saturday, December 19 at 2:00 p.m. as St. Mary's hosts Washington College (2-4) in non-conference action. 

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