UMW Hoops Dominate St. Mary's

Brooks' 15 Leads #13 UMW Women's Basketball Past St. Mary's, 67-37

Senior forward Claire Brooks scored 15 points in 18 minutes to pace the 13th ranked University of Mary Washington women's basketball team to a 67-37 win at St. Mary's College on Wednesday afternoon. The win improves the Eagles' record to 14-0 on the year, and 6-0 in Capital Athletic Conference play.

The Eagles fell behind, 6-4, in the opening minutes, but then used a 13-0 run capped by four points from senior guard Katie Wimmer to assume a 17-6 lead, and a three pointer from senior guard Jenna McRae moments later upped the lead to 15 at 25-10 with 5:29 remaining in the first half. An 8-2 run to cap the first half gave UMW a 37-16 advantage at intermission.

UMW led by as many as 34 in the second half before settling on the 30-point victory. In addition to Brooks' 15 points, McRae scored 14 for the Eagles, while freshman forward Aubrey Howland added 11 points. Brooks and guard Sam Partonen each had six rebounds, while Partonen added three assists to lead UMW. St. Mary's was led by Raven Owens and Jasmine Jones' 12 points each.

Mary Washington shot 45.5 percent from the floor for the game, while limiting St. Mary's to 23.9 percent, including just 18.2 percent in the second half. The Eagles held a 39-27 advantage in rebounding, and caused 24 Seahawk turnovers.

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday when they host Wesley College at 2:00 p.m.

UMW Men's Basketball Tops St. Mary's, 65-55, to Grab First Place in CAC Standings

After Wednesday's Capital Athletic Conference basketball doubleheader, only two undefeated teams remain in conference play combined between the women and men. Both hail from the University of Mary Washington, as the men topped St. Mary's College, 65-55, on the road to snap a nine-game losing streak to the Seahawks and improve to 11-4 overall and 6-0 in league play. In the process, UMW snaps St. Mary's' 37-game regular season home winning streak.

The Eagles built a 13-point halftime advantage, using a 7-0 run to take a 9-3 lead, and using a pair of Bradley Riester three pointers to up the lead to 23-7 with 8:46 left in the first half. Matt Boward and Ryan Farrar then hit consecutive threes to push the lead to 15 at 29-14 with 5:57 to go in the half, and led, 34-21, at intermission.

The second half saw the Seahawks start on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to two at 34-32, but a Farrar three pointer stopped the bleeding. The Seahawks took the lead at 42-41 with 12:16 to play, but freshman Taylor Johnson hit a three 12 seconds later, and Riester followed with another three to push the Eagle lead to five at 47-42.

Sophomore guard Walt Smith made a pair of layups and freshman forward Sean Armstrong added another to give UMW a 12-0 run and an 11-point lead at 56-45 with 6:14 left. After the Seahawks cut the deficit to five, UMW used a layup from senior Tad Dickman and made enough free throws down the stretch for a 10-point win.

Smith led the Eagles with 12 points on 6-9 shooting and also added four assists and five steals. Farrar went 3-8 on three pointers en route to 10 points, and Riester scored nine in 16 minutes of action. Johnson had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds for UMW, who shot 41 percent for the game with nine three pointers. St. Mary's shot 35 percent from the floor and had 29 turnovers in the game.

The Eagles will host Wesley College on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in another Capital Athletic Conference matchup.

-Courtesy Clint Often, UMW Sports Information