FREDERICKSBURG, VA – In a battle of two of the top four teams in the Capital Athletic Conference, the Mary Washington Eagles used a 29-point third quarter to post a 71-61 win over York College on Monday night in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The game was a make up from the contest that was postponed due to Winter Storm Jonas on January 23.

The Eagles improve to 16-3 overall and 10-2 in the league as they remained tied for second place with Christopher Newport, one game back of conference front runner Marymount. The Spartans fall to 15-4 overall and now sit in fourth with a league mark of 9-3.

The Green and White got off to a blistering start as they sprinted out to a 12-2 lead as Beth Wiseley (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) drilled a three with 4:51 left in the first quarter. The Eagles trimmed the Spartan lead to five but York responded by scoring the next six points to take an 18-7 lead. The Eagles scored the final bucket of the quarter as York led by nine after one.

The Spartans pushed the lead to a game-high 12 points when Katie Wagner (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) drilled a three to open up the second quarter scoring. The Eagles scored six straight to cut the York lead to seven but the Spartans got another Wiseley three to push the lead back to ten. Mary Washington hit the Spartans with an 11-2 run, trimming the York lead to one at 27-26. York would hold the Eagles off until Kendall Parker hit a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left in the half to give the hosts a 33-32 lead. Morgan Kuehne (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) hit a bucket with 24 ticks left in the half as York would take a 34-33 lead to the break.

That would be the last lead York would have as the Eagles hit York with a 12-1 run to start the quarter, turning their one-point halftime deficit into a 45-35 lead. Morgan Golec (Abingdon, Md./Patterson Mill) drilled a three on the ensuing possession but the Eagles responded by scoring 15 of the next 22 points to take a 60-45 lead with 45 seconds left in the quarter. The Spartans would cut their deficit to 13 heading to the fourth but the damage was done as Mary Washington outscored York 29-15 in the quarter.

York battled back in the fourth as they trimmed the lead to four at 62-58 on a pair of Kuehne free throws with 5:04 left but that would be as close as York would get. The Eagles scored nine straight as the Spartans ran out of gas before the Eagles settled for the final 10-point margin of victory.

Parker led four Eagles in double figures as she poured in a game-high 19 points. She was 5-for-9 from the floor as all five of her field goals were three pointers. She also went 4-for-5 from the line in her 16 minutes of action. Brianne Comden added 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the Eagles. Comden was 9-for-14 from the floor in the victory. Elizabeth Dofflemyer and Meghan Comer each added 12 points. Comer pulled in a team-high eight rebounds while Dofflemyer added three assists and two rebounds.

Wagner led York as she tallied 15 points in the setback. Wagner went 5-for-7 from the floor including 3-for-5 from three and 2-for-4 from the stripe. She also had three rebounds, two assists and a steal in her 34 minutes of play. Golec added 12 points as she cashed out four three pointers in the game while she also had five rebounds. Kuehne was the third Spartan in double figures with 10 points while she also had two rebounds, three assists, and a pair of blocked shots.

The Eagles really handled the Spartans on the glass, outrebounding York 41-29. They held York to just eight offensive rebounds as UMW held a 16-4 margin in second chance points. The Spartans committed only 16 turnovers in the game but the Eagles made those mistakes hurt as they turned the York miscues into 26 points. Mary Washington also had a huge 34-10 advantage in points in the paint.

Mary Washington finished the game shooting 44.1% from the floor including 7-for-13 (53.8%) from distance. York shot 45.8% from the floor in the first half but went just 8-for-25 in the second half to finish the game at 38.8% from the field. The Spartans did convert a season-high 10 three pointers as they shot 47.6% from distance.

The Spartans are now more than halfway through the grueling five games in ten days stretch. They will return to action on Wednesday evening when they travel to Dover, Delaware to face the Wesley Wolverines in a CAC contest. Tip time is set for 6:00 pm.

Katie Wagner photo courtesy of David Sinclair