York (PA) Ends Seahawks’ CAC Tournament Run
St. Mary's City, Md. - Third time was the charm as strong shooting propelled fifth-seeded York (Pa.) College to an 88-73 victory over No. 4 seed St. Mary's College of Maryland in Capital Athletic Conference First Round action Tuesday night. Tonight was the Spartans' first win over St. Mary's this season. York now advances to Thursday night's semifinal contest at top-seeded University of Mary Washington.
In other first round action, third-seeded Wesley College posted a 76-58 triumph over sixth-seeded Gallaudet University. Wesley will now face No. 2 seed Marymount (Va.) University in a semifinal round game on Thursday.
The loss brings St. Mary's 2009-10 campaign to a close as the Seahawks finished the year with an overall record of 9-16 (8-8 CAC).
First-year forward Jessica Kramer (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) led five YCP players into double figures with 16 points and team-bests of eight rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Jamie Polan (York, Pa./West York) contributed 15 points while junior forward Jaimie Sapp (Bluemont, Va./Loudoun Valley) added 13 and six boards. First-year guard Cinthia Ruiz (Hampstead, Md./North Carroll) dropped a dozen points, six caroms and four helpers off the bench while junior guard April Sparkman (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) chipped in 11 and six rebounds.
Boasting a 15-point halftime lead, the Spartans (12-14) did their damage in the first half as the York offense exploded for 42 first-half points on 15-of-29 (51.7%) shooting. This was an improvement from YCP's first-half play against St. Mary's this past Saturday when they shot 35.7% in the first 20 minutes and dropped a 61-59 decision to the Seahawks. On the other side of the ball, the YCP defense tripped up the Seahawks, holding the home team to 7-of-31 from the floor.
Junior guard Megan Seeman (Frederick, Md./Linganore) picked up 14 second-half points to pace SMCM and finish with a game-high 18 while senior guard Stephanie Saint-Aubin (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Junior forward Jamie Roberts (Rockville, Md./Barrie) added 14 and five boards while first-year guard Pui Sham (Springfield, Va./W. Springfield) had 11 as a reserve. Senior center Alex Wenger (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) finished with nine points and a team-best eight caroms.
St. Mary's had a much better shooting performance in the final 20 minutes, connecting on 15-of-37 shots but could never get any closer than 11 points as the Spartans continued to plug away with solid shooting.
