Seahawks Lose Heartbreaker at Gallaudet
Washington, D.C. - Gallaudet University avenged its January 16 loss to St. Mary's College of Maryland Wednesday night as the Bison edged St. Mary's, 65-64, in Capital Athletic Conference action, overcoming a five-point deficit early in the second half.
Gallaudet (12-11, 7-9 CAC) opened up the second half by outscoring the Seahawks, 24-22, to regain a 60-55 margin following a layup by junior center Easter Faafiti (Pittsburg, Calif./Pittsburg) at 4:44. St. Mary's went on a quick 7-3 spurt as senior guard Stephanie Saint-Aubin (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) capped the run with a layup at 1:16 to close the gap to one point. On the ensuing play, junior center Nukeitra Hayes (Anderson, Ind./Indiana School f/t Deaf) put the Bison back up by three with a layup as 56 seconds remained in regulation.
Two free throws by Saint-Aubin again had the Seahawks within one with 46 seconds left. Freshman forward Taylor Petrisko (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) corralled the rebound on the free throw miss by Gallaudet's freshman forward Maddie Morgan (Wilmington, Del./Alexis I. DuPont) and the Seahawks called a timeout at 00:08. With a chance to win it, Saint-Aubin's layup was unfortunately off the mark with two seconds left and GU's freshman guard Ann Whited (Fishers, Ind./Indiana School f/t Deaf) secured the rebound.
Faafiti finished the evening with a double-double on a game-high 28 points, including 13 in the first half, and 10 rebounds while Hayes contributed 19 points and six boards off the bench. As a team, the Bison shot well from the floor, connecting on 57.7% of their shots.
St. Mary's (8-14, 7-7 CAC) owned a 36-33 lead at halftime as Saint-Aubin tallied 12 points in the first 20 minutes. There were four tied scores and three lead changes in the first half of play, including a 24-all score at 7:12. A 19-4 run in an eight-minute span helped the Seahawks recover from being seven points down to boasting a 34-26 with 2:31 remaining in the half.
Saint-Aubin recorded her ninth double-double of the season on 24 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while senior center Alex Wenger (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) added a season-high 12 points and grabbed nine boards. Freshman guard Pui Sham (Springfield, Va./W. Springfield) reached double figures as well with 11 points while junior forward Jamie Roberts (Rockville, Md./Barrie) dished out a career-best six helpers.
The Seahawks still remain in fourth place in the CAC standings despite tonight's loss but they have a tough weekend ahead of them as St. Mary's faces York (Pa.) College at home on Saturday at 2:00 pm and then completes the regular-season at No. 23/25 University of Mary Washington on Sunday at 5:00 pm. How St. Mary's does in these last two games will determine whether or not the Seahawks will host a first-round CAC tournament game next week.
