FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - There was less than 10 minutes left in Saturday's Capital Athletic Conference women's basketball game and Gallaudet University was tied with University of Mary Washington, 26-26. The Bison were hanging with the three-time conference champions but GU junior forward Easter Faafiti (Pittsburg, Calif.) was whistled for her fifth foul with 9:34 left in the game. Faafiti, the leading scorer in the CAC, was sent to the bench with 13 points and 13 rebounds as she could only watch as the Eagles went on an 11-0 run to pull away from the Bison. Mary Washington won the defensive struggle with Gallaudet, 45-36, to end the five-game win streak for the Bison before 224 on the road.

The nine-point loss is the best showing against the Eagles, who have been a mainstay on the national scene for the past several years, since a 16-point loss during the 2002-03 season. UMW has won 18 straight against the Bison and hold a 41-14 series lead. The last Bison win against the Eagles came during the 2001-02 season when GU won 65-51. Since then the Eagles' average margin of victory against the Bison has been 40.4 points before today. In the past UMW had embarrassed Gallaudet by outrageous defeats of 72, 59, 57, 51 (twice) and 48 points.

Gallaudet (7-4, 3-2 CAC) jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the game and took a second lead later in the half before Mary Washington (8-3, 4-0 CAC) took a four-point lead, 22-18, into halftime.

Faafiti scored half of Gallaudet's first half total and ripped down nine rebounds to boot but went into halftime with three fouls. Her third foul came with 33 seconds left before the half. Junior Nukeitra Hayes (Anderson, Ind.) scored eight of her 11 points in the first half for the Bison.

In the second half, Faafiti picked up her fourth foul less than four minutes in but that didn't hamper her from helping the Bison. GU tied the game at 22 on a bucket made by freshman Ann Whited (Fishers, Ind.) and minutes later Faafiti scored her last points on a lay-up to knot the game at 24 apiece. GU took its final lead when freshman Shaquana McDonough (Pembroke, Mass.) scored at the 10:50 mark to give the Bison the 26-24 advantage. UMW answered on an Erin O'Neill (four points) basket as she was fouled by Faafiti. The Eagles pushed away from the Bison in a span of three minutes as they went from down two to up 11, 37-26. Katie Wimmer (10 points, 11 rebounds) added a three-pointer a minute later to give the Eagles a 40-27 lead with five minutes left.

Gallaudet came undone at the free-throw line in the second half where the Bison shot a dismal 26.7 percent (4-of-15) compared to the 90.9 percent (10-of-11) showing in the first half. GU finished the game with the lowest field goal percentage this season as the Bison were 11-for-44 (25 percent). The final point totals are the lowest for Gallaudet and Mary Washington this season. The Eagles didn't shoot that much better from the field with a 17-for-64 (26.6 percent) showing and only made 4-of-24 shots from three-point range (16.7 percent). Mary Washington's bench outscored Gallaudet's 25-0.

This is only the second loss for the Bison in CAC play this season as Gallaudet has lost to the top two teams in the conference. Gallaudet can hang its head high after today as the two CAC losses to Mary Washington and nationally ranked Marymount (Va.) University were only by nine points.

Gallaudet last lost a game on November 29, 2009 to Penn State-Altoona, 81-66, in the GU Holiday Tournament championship.

GU will look to get back in the win column on Monday, January 11, at 4 p.m. when it welcomes Medgar Evers to the Field House where the Bison are 6-1 this season.