The USMMA women’s basketball team won its first Landmark Conference game since February of 2013 Saturday, defeating Goucher College, 57-48, at the Gophers’ Decker Sports & Recreation Center. The Mariners move to 3-15 (1-11 Landmark) with the victory, while Goucher falls to 4-15 (0-11 Landmark).
Freshman Tichina Carmon led USMMA with a double-double, notching a team-high 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Freshman Samantha Drake contributed a career-high 14 points and eight boards in just her second start of the season, and senior Demi VanDerWal added 11 points and eight boards.
The Gophers led for nearly the entire opening half. Their largest advantage came at 8:10 of the first, when a layup by Ezeani made the score 17-8 in favor of the home squad. The Gocuher lead didn’t fall below five points again until the last basket of the first half, a layup by Carmon, brought the Mariners within just three points, 29-26, where the score remained into the halftime break.
In the second half, Drake drained a layup at 18:56 and VanDerWal nailed a three-pointer at 17:15 to give USMMA its first lead since the early stages of the game. The Mariners went on a 17-6 run to start the half and built up an eight-point lead, 43-25, by 10:19.
Despite the lead falling to just four points under a minute later, Merchant Marine kept the Gophers from coming back down the stretch. The advantage hit double-figures with just 36 seconds remaining, allowing the Mariners to cruise to the victory.
Goucher junior Amaka Ezeani led all players in the game with 17 points off the bench, while also grabbing down a team-best seven rebounds.
