Baltimore, Md. – Notre Dame of Maryland University salvaged a split of the season series with Keystone College by defeating the Giants 68-55 in Colonial States Athletic Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon in Maryland. The Gators, who avenged a 62-59 suffered at Keystone on January 7, end the season with an 8-15 overall record while the Giants finish with a 6-19 mark.
The two teams ended the year tied for ninth place in the CSAC with identical 5-11 records in conference play.
Saturday's contest marked the final game in a Keystone uniform for seniors
Brianna Nolen (Union Bridge, Md./Walkersville),
Brittany Sugalski (Nanticoke, Pa./Greater Nanticoke Area),
Hannah Zuchowski (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro Area), and
Dyjae Williams (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech).
Keystone raced out to a 10-2 lead over the first four minutes of Saturday's contest and led by as many as nine points before Notre Dame cut its deficit to 21-16 at the end of the first quarter.
Zuchowski opened the second period with a field goal to give the Giants a seven-point edge, but the Gators countered with the next 13 points to claim a 29-23 advantage.
Savanna Robinson (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin) hit a three-pointer with 2:16 left on the clock to tie the score at 34-apiece, but Notre Dame tallied the final five points of the frame to hold a 39-34 lead at halftime.
Robinson drained another trey to open the third quarter bringing Keystone to within three points, but the hosts answered with a 7-0 burst and stretched their lead to 13 points before taking a 52-44 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame pushed its advantage to a game-high 14 points three and a half minutes into the fourth period. The Giants narrowed their deficit to nine points at the 5:12 mark on a three-point play by Nolen, but were unable to come any closer as the Gators claimed the 13-point victory.
Ashley Guy scored a game-high 16 points for Notre Dame and was joined in double-figures by Zaria Comer (14), Dania Taylor (13), and Justine Mudiay (12). Comer also pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to help the Gators to a 40-33 advantage on the glass for the game. Taylor led all players with seven assists for the hosts, who shot 41.7 percent from the field for the game while going 33.3 percent from three-point range and 60.9 percent from the free throw line.
Robinson and
Nina Hodanich (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) had 11 points apiece to lead Keystone while Williams added 10 points. Williams and Sugalski tied for the team-lead with six rebounds apiece with Sugalski tying for a game-high with four steals.
Bryce Garrett (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) dished out a team-best four assists for the Giants, who connected on 36.1 percent of their field goal attempts on the afternoon while going 21.1 percent from beyond the arc and 70 percent from the charity stripe.
