Box Score St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team dropped their second in a row Wednesday night, falling 58-44 to Salisbury University in Capital Athletic Conference action. With tonight's win, Salisbury (10-7, 6-4 CAC) completes the season sweep of the Seahawks (5-12, 3-7 CAC).
Junior center Nina Haller (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) paced St. Mary's in the loss with a game-best 19 points while senior guard Anna McClain (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends) led the team on the glass with nine rebounds.
Sophomore captain Kerri Kline (Hagerstown, Md./Saint James) also broke double-digits for the Seahawks with 14 points while first-year forward Kobe Chaney (Annapolis, Md./South River) contributed five boards, four points, four assists, and two blocks.
St. Mary's owned a 16-14 advantage after one quarter of play as the home team went 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. Twice, the Seahawks led by five in the first 10 minutes, 12-7 at 2:32 following a pair of free throws by McClain and then again at 1:02 (14-9) thanks to another two free throws by sophomore guard Christine Morin (Kensington, Md./St. John's [D.C.]).
The game was tied three times in the first five minutes of the second quarter before Salisbury rode a 13-6 run to a 35-28 halftime lead. Senior forward Julia McLaughlin (Monkton, Md./Hereford) and junior guard Lauren Rothfeld (Dresher, Pa./Upper Dublin) guided the rally with six points each in the stanza.
Haller and McLaughlin were the game's leading scorers at intermission with 10 points apiece. McClain grabbed four first-half rebounds to help the Seahawks edge Salisbury, 17-16, on the boards.
The Sea Gulls broke the game wide open at the start of the third period as McLaughlin and Rothfeld combined for five during an 18-3 stretch in just over a five-minute span. Salisbury established its largest lead of the game – 53-31 – at the end of this run. During the 5:36-minute span, St. Mary's was held to just 1-of-6 from the field.
Both sides combined for just three field goals in the final quarter as the Seahawks outscored the visitors, 8-3, during the final 10 minutes.
McLaughlin finished the night with a double-double on 14 points and game-high 12 rebounds, helping Salisbury tally a 43-35 rebounding margin for the game. Rothfeld also notched 14 while sophomore guard Morgan Grubb (Bear, Del./Conrad Schools of Science) chipped in 10 points and added game-highs of five assists and five steals.
The Seahawks will be back in action this Saturday, January 30th when Southern Virginia University (3-13, 2-8 CAC) comes to town for a CAC tilt at 2:00 p.m. Southern Virginia claimed the first meeting of the season down in Buena Vista, Virginia, on January 6 by a 92-79 margin.
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