READING, PA-- The St. Mary's Women's Basketball squad opened their 2021 conference play in Reading, PA against Penn State Berks. Tonight's match was the inaugural game for the Seahawks in the United East. Tomorrow the Seahawks face a quick turnaround and travel to Williamsport, PA  to face off in their second conference matchup against the Penn College Wildcats. St. Mary's made their United East debut one to remember, scoring the most points in a match this season thus far. The Seahawks dominated their competition and earned their second win of the 2021 campaign. 

St. Mary's- 69, Penn State Berks-26

How it Happened 

• Excited for the opportunity to compete in a new conference, the Seahawks came together to quickly pull away and show their conference foe that St. Mary's is a force to be reckon with. The Seahawks quickly put up 19 points in the opening ten minutes; earning a strong ten point lead against Berks (19-9).

• The Seahawks capitalized in the second quarter of this inaugural match and had their best performance yet this season, putting up 25 points in the ten minutes of action. St. Mary's was unstoppable on defense with 18 rebounds and six steals. This defensive force only allowed Berks to earn two points throughout the quarter (44-11).

• Berks tried to fight back at the start of the second half but the Seahawks wouldn't let up. After hitting a season high 25 points in the second quarter, the Hawks couldn't be stopped and earned another 14 points to increase their lead. St. Mary's continued their impressive performance and held Berks to just 9 points to close out the third quarter (58-20).

• The Hawks could taste their first conference win and were ready to make quick work of Penn State Berks to secure their second win of the season. St. Mary's put up 11 more points in the fourth to bring their total to 69 points for the match. This is the most points the Hawks have scored this season, beating their previous best by two points. The Seahawks limited Berks to just six points to close the game (69-26). 

Inside the Box Score

• Of the season high 69 points scored tonight, Kendra Stamper earned the Seahawks 13 points. Stephanie Howell followed close behind her teammate with ten points. 

• Cassidy Kupchinskas made five key steals in the inaugural conference match. Rachel Manning walked away with four. 

• St. Mary's collected 53 rebounds across the four quarters. Stephanie Howell led the charge with seven rebounds. Karon Williams, Kendra Stamper, Charlotte Donnellan each came up with six for the Hawks. 

Up Next

St. Mary's heads to Williamsport, PA to take on Penn College in their second conference match of the season. Tip-off is set for 3pm on December 4th.

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