Senior Aubrey Howland scored 15 points to lead three players in double figures to lead the University of Mary Washington women's basketball team to an 80-66 victory at Southern Virginia University on Wednesday night in Buena Vista, Va. The Eagles improve to 10-4 overall, and 6-1 in CAC play.
The Eagles used a 22-0 run after allowing the opening basket, including five points from freshman Kendall Parker, in a balanced effort. UMW upped its advantage to 30-5 with a pair of Megan Green free throws with 8:26 left, and an Erin Drumheller free throw with 4:49 left upped the advantage to 40-7. Howland hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to give the Eagles a 43-17 halftime lead.
The Eagles shot a blistering 16-29 in the first half (55.2%), and every player but one found the score column, led by eight points from Howland and seven each from Taylor Barton and Claire Haeuptle.
After the Knights started the second half with six points, Haeuptle stemmed the tide with a three pointer, to give UMW a 46-23 lead with 18:15 remaining. Southern Virginia cut the deficit to 52-35 with 14:31 remaining, seven straight Eagle points moved the lead back to 24 at 59-35 with 12:58 remaining.
A pair of SVU three pointers cut the deficit to 59-41, but the Eagles began to find success at the free throw line, and the lead moved back to 25 at 71-46 with 6:40 left. A Megan Green three pointer moved the lead to 28, and the Knights closed the game with an 18-6 run to close the final gap to 80-66.
Mary Washington shot 42.6% for the game (26-61), making 4-13 three pointers, and went 24-38 from the free throw line. Southern Virginia shot 40.4% (23-57), making 6-15 three pointers and 14-21 free throws. The Eagles led in rebounds, 47-38, and forced 25 Knight turnovers.
Howland led UMW with 15 points on 5-11 shooting from the field and 5-8 from the line. Barton went 5-9 from the field en route to 12 points, and Haeuptle added 11 points. Southern Virginia's Crystal Cleveland led all scorers with 19 points.
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday when they visit Penn State Harrisburg at 1:00 p.m.