Junior forward Jordan Carpenter scored a game-high 23 points, and sophomore guard Ashley Martin netted 11 in leading the University of Mary Washington women's basketball team to a 57-45 victory over Johnson and Wales University on Saturday afternoon at Ron Rosner Arena. The Eagles improve to 13-2 on the season, with head coach Deena Applebury reaching her 400th career win.
It was a slow start for both the Eagles and Wildcats, with only 10 points in the first five minutes of the game, split 6-4 in favor of JWU. Jordan Carpenter scored the first bucket for the Eagles at 7:51, with Sydney Sherman and Elizabeth Dufrane notching a basket and the Eagles' lone 3-pointer, respectively. By the end of the hard-fought first quarter, the Wildcats had a one-point advantage at 9-10.
To start the second quarter, sophomore guard Megan Baxter put up 4 points in 3 minutes to make it 13-14 Wildcats. However, Jordan Carpenter finally found her flow and went on to score the next 10 points for the Eagles, including 4 baskets and 2 made free-throws from 6:22-2:12. Junior guard Keagan Schwab ended the first half with a pair of free-throws at 1:19 to put the Eagles up 26-23, holding JWU to 13 points.
Senior guard Ashley Martin opened the second half with a bucket at 9:30, followed by Elizabeth Dufrane hitting back-to-back shots from within the arc at 9:00 and 8:00. These shots allowed UMW to take a 32-25 advantage in the first 2 minutes, which only grew as the clock continued to tick with baskets from Martin, Carpenter, Schwab, and Dufrane. The Eagles lead was 43-28 by the end of the third, thanks to stellar defense and many offensive rebounds.
The fourth and final quarter began with a Keagan Schwab basket at 8:05, when Carpenter and Martin decided to trade baskets for the next 7 and a half minutes, with Elizabeth Dufrane ending the game with 2 made baskets at the free-throw line with 5.4 seconds to go. Although the Eagles were outscored by JWU in the fourth 17-13, UMW found a way to close out and earn their 13th win of the season.
The Eagles shot 32.9% from the floor (24-73), making 1-15 three point attempts and 8-13 free throws. Johnson & Wales shot 35.2% (19-54), making 1-12 three point attempts and 6-7 free throws. The Eagles controlled the boards, 52-35, while also maintaining a 23-9 points-off-turnovers for the game.
UMW will be back in action on Monday when the Eagles host Stevenson University at 6:00 pm.