STAUNTON, Va. – The Mary Baldwin University women's basketball team held off St. Mary's (Md.) 65-63 in nonconference action in the PAC on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Fighting Squirrels grab their second straight win and move to 7-6 on the year, while the Seahawks fall to 3-10 on the season.
Nicole Mallon finished with a season-high 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor and pulled down 10 rebounds to record her first double-double of the year. Mallon also had two assists and a steal in 30 minutes on the floor.
Mary Moran also recorded 10 points in the start. She pulled down six rebounds, recorded an assist, a steal and a block, while Bryonna Woofter garnered 11 points, six rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists.
Demet Saygili led the team with seven assists and six steals while also pulling down nine rebounds and dropping eight points.
In comparison, Gina Seifert scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, while Cameron Mangold finished with 15 points. Stephanie Howell pulled down 10 boards and Kyaira Priest finished with a game-high seven steals.
The Fighting Squirrels rushed to a 7-0 lead to start the contest before the Seahawks scored the next five to cut the lead to two points with 6:33 left in the quarter. MBU closed out the quarter on a 22-7 scoring run to take a 29-12 lead into the second quarter.
A jumper by Woofter at the 8:12 mark of the second pushed the Fighting Squirrels' lead to 35-12 before eventually working the lead to 40-16 at the 6:28 mark. SMCM mounted a 14-3 run over the remaining six minutes to set the halftime score at 43-30 and holding MBU without a made field goal for the final six minutes of the period.
In the second half, the two sides alternated baskets for nearly the entire quarter as MBU outscored the visitors 14-13 with no distinct advantage either way. The Fighting Squirrels maintained a 14 point lead going into the last period.
A pair of threes for MBU started the fourth and set the score at 63-46 with 7:30 showing on the clock. The three by Anders proved to be the last field goal of the game for the home side. Woofter hit a pair of free throws across those seven minutes to push the Fighting Squirrels to 65 for the game.
The Seahawks shot 43.8 percent in the fourth quarter and tallied 20 points to make the score 65-63 after a three by Howell with 15 seconds remaining. An offensive foul gave the Seahawks possession, but another turnover put the ball in the Fighting Squirrels' hands with less than 10 seconds left. SMCM forced a turnover to get possession. An inbound with less than three seconds for the potential tying score. The whistle was blown as the clock hit zero, but a foul was not called as the game concluded with the Fighting Squirrels in the lead.
MBU shot 36.2 percent (25-69) from the floor compared to SMCM who hit at a 35.9 clip (23-64) in the game. The Seahawks also outbounded the home side 46-44.
The Fighting Squirrels are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 11, against Methodist at 2 pm in the PAC.
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