St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team battled at home Wednesday evening in their Capital Athletic Conference matchup with the Christopher Newport University Captains, coming up short in a 63-58 setback.

Sophomore guard Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James) led the Seahawks with a game-best 19 points. Also contributing in double digits was junior center Nina Haller (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase). Haller put down 16 points, registered three assists, and grabbed eight rebounds.

The Seahawks (5-11, 3-6 CAC) started the game strong with a six-point lead to end the first quarter behind four points each from Haller and senior guard Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends). St. Mary's continued to push in the second quarter and posted its biggest lead of the game – eight points (18-10) – at 6:44 following a Haller layup.

CNU sophomore forward Devon Byrd (Grottoes, Va./Fort Defiance) capped off an 11-3 run at 2:50 with a jump shot to set the score at 21-21, igniting a head-to-head battle with the Seahawks. St. Mary's would not let down and sophomore guard Bella Vagnoni (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge) launched a three-point shot at 1:11 to send the Seahawks into the locker room with a 27-23 lead at halftime.

Kline tallied 12 of her game-best 19 points in the first half behind 4-of-7 shooting from downtown while Byrd paced the Captains with nine on 4-of-7 from the field.

Haller collected 10 of her 16 points over the final 20 minutes while McClain obtained seven of her season-best 11 points in the second half as well, including five in the fourth stanza.

The back-and-forth matchup came to an end when Christopher Newport (14-2, 7-2 CAC), who received votes in this week's USA TODAY Sports NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll, took the lead in the fourth at 2:37, owning a 15-point advantage. The Seahawks would not go out without a fight, ending the game with a 10-0 run. Kline drilled a three-pointer with three seconds left for the 63-58 final.

Sophomore guard Anitra Thomas (Lynchburg, Va./Brookville), this week's CAC Player of the Week, led the Captains scoring 18 points. Byrd was also a big contributor with 15 points and eight rebounds for Christopher Newport. The Captains shot 25-of-66 from the field and 5-of-6 at the free throw line.

Weather-permitting, the Seahawks will be back in action on Saturday, January 23rd when St. Mary's travels to Arlington, Virginia to face Marymount (Va.) University (13-3, 8-1 CAC) in CAC action at 2 p.m. In their first meeting of the season on December 30, Marymount won 52-35 in St. Mary's City.

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