The 20th ranked University of Mary Washington women's basketball team saw its bench score 30 points in a 62-45 win over SUNYIT on Thursday in New Orleans as part of the Big Easy Challenge. UMW improves to 10-0 on the season.

The Eagles built a 29-23 halftime advantage, thanks in part to an 11-4 run to assume the lead with 14:19 remaining, and building the lead to 16-10 with 10:34 to play. UMW led by as many as eight in the first half, settling on the six-point advantage by intermission.

SUNYIT quickly cut the deficit to one to start the second half, but an 8-1 run upped the Eagle lead to 37-29 with 16:01 to play. The Eagles led by as many as 19 points before claiming the 17-point win.

Senior Jenna McRae (Springfield, Va., Annandale) led the Eagles with 13 points, while freshman Aubrey Howland (Richboro, Pa., Archbishop Wood) added 10 points off the bench. Senior Katie Wimmer (Vienna, Va., James Madison) had eight points, seven rebounds, six steals, and four assists, and junior center Carol Dye (Springfield, Va., Lake Braddock) added eight points for the Eagles.

Mary Washington shot 40% from the field in the game (21-53), while limiting SUNYIT to 29% (13-45). The Eagles won the rebounding battle, 40-30, and forced 21 SUNYIT turnovers with 11 steals.

The Eagles will return to action next Wednesday when they visit Salisbury University at 4:00 p.m. in a Capital Athletic Conference battle.