Junior guard Meghan Comer scored 16 points to lead the University of Mary Washington women's basketball team to a 68-57 win over St. Mary's College on Wednesday night at Ron Rosner Arena in both teams' Capital Athletic Conference opener. The Eagles improve to 2-3 overall, and 1-0 in league play, while the Seahawks slip to 2-3 and 0-1.
After the Eagles used a pair of three pointers from senior Kendall Parker to open the scoring, St. Mary's knotted the score at 8-8 with 4:34 left in the first quarter. After a pair of McKenzie Jenkins free throws put the Eagles back ahead, the Seahawks countered with an 8-0 run to take a 16-10 lead with 1:47 left in the frame. Freshman Tory Martin and Comer made baskets to cut the margin to 16-14, but St. Mary's found the last score of the quarter to take an 18-14 lead to the second.
The Seahawks used a pair of three pointers to extend their lead to seven, at 25-18, with 5:32 left before halftime, but a pair of Madison Shifflett free throws and baskets from freshman Corianne Calloway and Comer cut the score to 25-24 with 4:17 left. St. Mary's then scored five straight to return their lead to six, but Comer hit a basket and a pair of free throws in the final minutes to cut the halftime deficit to 31-30 favoring the visitors at intermission.
The Eagles came out inspired in the second half, outscoring the Seahawks, 22-7, in the third. The Eagles opened the frame with 10 straight points, led by four points each from junior Jordan Pamlanye and Parker, while holding SMC scoreless for the first 5:21 of play. UMW extended the lead to as many as 16 on a Madison Shifflett three pointer with 1:51 left, and led by 14, at 52-38, entering the final 10 minutes.
Four different Eagles scored baskets through the first five minutes of the half, keeping the lead at 16 (60-44), with 5:06 to play. Comer and Pamlanye scored buckets to keep the comfortable lead before St. Mary's mounted a charge that cut the margin to nine at 66-57 with 1:09 left. But Calloway scored the final basket, giving the Eagles an 11-point victory.
Comer made 6-12 shots, and 4-4 free throws to pace the offense. Parker added 10 points on 3-8 shooting with a pair of opening salvos from long range. UMW shot 47.3% from the field (26-55), making 3-9 three pointers, and went 13-14 from the free throw line. St. Mary's shot 35.3% (18-51), making 7--18 three point shots and 14-21 free throws. The Eagles held a 34-29 advantage on the boards.
UMW will be back in action on Saturday when they visit York College of Pa. at 1 p.m. in another CAC shootout.