All-America senior Brianne Comden scored 27 points to lead three Eagles in double figures as the 10th ranked University of Mary Washington women's basketball team defeated Southern Virginia University, 69-55, on Wednesday night at Ron Rosner Arena. The Eagles improve to 17-1 overall, and 10-1 in Capital Athletic Conference play.
After UMW jumped on top, 4-2, Southern Va. responded with a pair of three pointers to take an 8-4 lead with 6:00 remaining in the first. Senior Megan Green answered with a three for the Eagles to cut the deficit to one, and a pair of Comden free throws and another bucket gave UMW the lead at 11-10 with 4:38 left.
Sophomore McKenzie Jenkins followed with a three to build the lead to four, and after the Knights retied the score at 16-16, sophomore Megan Comer and Comden each connected to give UMW a 20-16 lead after 10 minutes.
Jenkins opened the second with a three, but SVU scored six straight to trim the margin to 23-22 with 7:55 remaining. The Knights regained the lead at 27-25, and the lead three times in the next two minutes. The Eagles used a Comden basket and an triple from sophomore Alannah Miller with 1:24 to build a four-point advantage, but the Knights answered with four of the last five points of the half to trim the halftime score to 36-35.
The Kights gained the lead to start the third, and led, 41-37, with 7:34 left. Comer hit a basket as well as a three pointer to regain the lead for UMW, and Jenkins followed with a pair of baskets in an 8-0 run that gave the Eagles a 53-45 lead, and Comer capped the frame with another basket to give UMW a 55-47 advantage.
The Eagles slowly pulled away in the fourth, upping the lead to 60-49 on a Comden layup with 4:47 left, and Jenkins capped the scoring to push the lead to 14, 69-55, in the final minute.
Comden went 11-17 from the field and 5-7 from the line en route to a game-high 27 points. Comer made 5-8 shots in scoring 11, while adding six assists and a pair of steals. Jenkins scored 13, making 5-10 shots, including 3-6 threes.
The Eagles shot 45.9% from the field (28-61), making 6-21 three point tries and 7-13 free throws. Southern Virginia shot 32.3% (20-62), making 4-15 three point attempts and 11-18 free throws.
UMW will be back in action on Saturday when the Eagles visit Salisbury University at 2:00 p.m.