St. Mary’s Drops Heartbreaking 79-78 Loss in CAC Quarterfinals
Megan Uglik
St. Mary's City, Md. - Sophomore forward Kylie Hall (Baltimore, Md./Lansdowne) connected on a hook shot with five seconds on the clock to lift the Salisbury University women's basketball team to a nail-biting 79-78 victory over St. Mary's College of Maryland in Capital Athletic Conference Quarterfinal action Tuesday night.
Amidst the one-point loss, senior guard Megan Uglik (Mt. Airy, Md./Linganore) ended her Seahawk career as the school's all-time assist leader with her game-high six assists. Uglik leaves her mark on the record books with 348 career assists, surpassing Jen Francis' (Class of 2001) record of 345.
The sixth-seeded Sea Gulls (12-14) now advance to Thursday's CAC semifinal match-up against No. 2-seed Marymount (Va.) University at 7:00. Marymount was a 71-37 winner over seventh-seeded Villa Julie College. The third-seeded Seahawks have their season come to an end this evening as St. Mary's finishes the 2007-08 campaign with an 18-8 overall record (11-5 CAC).
With 2:08 left in regulation, the contest was knotted at 75 all following a lay-up by Hall. The Seahawks missed a jumper but a turnover and foul by Salisbury sent sophomore guard Stephanie Saint-Aubin (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) to the free throw line where Saint-Aubin made the first of two. SU's sophomore forward Janay Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville) rebounded the miss from Saint-Aubin second free throw but missed a jumper at the other end which was corralled by junior forward Allie Scott (Laurel, Md./Atholton).
The Seahawks turned the ball over at 1:04 and called a timeout. Following the timeout, freshman guard Chante McKinney (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) notched a jumper to put Salisbury up 77-76 at 00:42. Saint-Aubin responded with a lay-up at 00:25. The Sea Gulls called a timeout with 19 ticks remaining and Hall hit the hook shot on the ensuing play.
Forty-nine turnovers were committed between both squads as the game was tied 34-34 at halftime. St. Mary's posted a 48-37 rebounding margin for the contest but went 0-for-9 from downtown.
Scott finished with a game- and season-high 26 points, including 14 in the first half, and registered a double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds. Saint-Aubin contributed 21 points and eight boards, while Uglik had 15 points and six caroms. Freshman center Tiara Hurte (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) chipped in 10 and eight rebounds.
Junior guard Monica Merkel (Walkersville, Md./St. John's at Prospect Hall) paced the Sea Gulls with 22 points and 13 boards, while junior guard Lindsay Martin (Newtown Square, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) tallied 17 and Hall added a dozen. Johnson ended with 10 second half points off the bench.
