Seahawks Rebound with 76-66 Victory behind Saint-Aubin’s 28
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands - Sophomore guard Steph Saint-Aubin (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) was just one-point shy of matching her career-high as Saint-Aubin poured in 28 points in leading the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's basketball team to third-place at the 2007 Sunsational Hoops Classic. The Seahawks (7-3) posted a 76-66 victory over the Crusaders of Alvernia College Sunday night.
Saint-Aubin represented St. Mary's on the All-Tournament Team as she tallied a two-day total of 43 points. Tournament champion, No. 12/14 Kean University, placed three on the all-star squad with Cardiss Jackman (MVP), Ebony Jackson, and Melissa Beyruti. Rounding out the rest of the team was Alvernia's Jill Rosolie and Cabrini College's Deana DiAmico.
The game opened up with a technical foul on Alvernia (3-5) for not having reported its starters by the appropriate time. With momentum in St. Mary's favor from the beginning, the Seahawks never trailed in this contest. Following a lay-up by Saint-Aubin at 14:46, both teams hit a bit of a lull as neither squad could connect on a field goal for a span of four minutes. The drought was ended by a lay-up by Joanna Graber.
SMCM went on to post a 19-10 advantage with 9:20 before another dry spell fell upon both teams again. After Ashley Blevins pulled the Crusaders within 20-17 at 7:26, no scoring was to be had for the next two and a half minutes. Freshman forward Tiara Hurte (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) ended scoreless span with a lay-up at 4:55. From there, the Seahawks closed out the half on a 20-11 run for a 42-28 halftime advantage.
Saint-Aubin paced all players with 20 first-half points, while Rosolie led Alvernia with 11 points off the bench. St. Mary's defense held the Crusaders scoreless from three-point range as AC went 0-for-5.
Junior forward Allie Scott (Laurel, Md./Atholton) gave St. Mary's its biggest lead of the contest with her jumper at 19:25 (44-28). The Seahawks maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the second half, leading 62-49 at 9:18, until an 11-0 run by the Crusaders capped by a Graber trey had them knocking on the door with 5:12 left in the game and only trailing 62-60. Alvernia never got any closer as St. Mary's closed out the game on a 14-6 run for the 76-66 victory.
Along with her 28 points, Saint-Aubin also had eight boards. Scott finished with 14 points, while senior guard Megan Uglik (Mt. Airy, Md./Linganore) added a dozen and dished out a game-high six assists.
Rosolie paced her squad with 19 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the free throw line, while Graber chipped in 15. Tracee Harrison hauled in a game-best 11 rebounds and tallied nine points.
St. Mary's will enjoy the rest of its stay in the U.S. Virgin Islands before hitting the court again on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 when the Seahawks host conference foe, York (Pa.) College at 6:00.
