Tied at 30 in the second half, the University of Mary Washington women's basketball team finished the game by outscoring homestanding Marymount University, 40-18, to top the Saints by a score of 75-48 on Saturday in Arlington, Va. The Eagles improve to 15-4 on the year, and 11-1 in CAC play.
The Eagles were able to jump ahead early, 6-0, and a Kayla Parks three pointer gave UMW a 9-6 advantage with 11:41 remaining in the half. The Saints answered with five straight points to take the lead at 11-9, but junior Megan Green answered with a three pointer to give the Eagles a 12-11 cushion.
The lead would bounce back and forth six times with the next six scores, as UMW led, 18-17, with 5:45 remaining in the half. A basket from Caitlin Ciniero pushed the Eagle lead to to 20-17, but the Saints again chipped away to tie the score at 24-24 with 1:26 remaining.
Free throws from Green and Claire Haeuptle pushed UMW's halftime lead to 28-25.
The Saints rallied early in the second half to tie the score at 30-30 with 18:27 left on the clock, but from there it was all Eagles, who cruised to victory. Sophomore Brianne Comden scored eight straight Eagle points to kickstart the run, and a Haeuptle three pointer with 12:44 remaining gave UMW a 10-point lead, at 43-33.
Back to back baskets from freshman Taylor Barton pushed the lead to 54-37 with 9:52 left, and the lead swelled to 20 on a Ciniero layup with 8:59 to play. Down the stretch, the Eagles went a perrfect 8-8 from the free throw line for the 27-point margin of victory.
Comden led the Eagles with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Ciniero added 12 points on 3-4 shooting from the field and 6-7 shooting from the line. Green and Barton each had nine for UMW.
The Eagles shot 53.3% from the field (24-45), making 4-11 three pointers and going 23-25 from the free throw line (92.0%). Marymount shot 13-54 from the field (24.1%), making 3-18 three pointers, and going 19-30 from the free throw line. Marymount held a 40-35 rebounding edge.
Mary Washington will host St. Mary's College on Wednesday night at 6:00 pm in a Capital Athletic Conference contest.