ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. - Victory was within the grasp of the Gallaudet University women's basketball team here Wednesday night on the road against St. Mary's College of Maryland in a United East Conference game. The Bison led for the majority of the game and held a lead in the closing minutes before the Seahawks rallied to win 62-59 at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena.

Gallaudet (2-11, 1-3 United East) outscored St. Mary's (7-5, 3-1 United East) in every quarter but the fourth as the Seahawks came alive and closed the game out on a 23-14 run.

Junior forward Cassidy Perry (Frederick, Md.) led the Bison with 21 points and 13 rebounds to go with six assists and two blocks. Freshman guard Olivia Brown (St. Augustine, Fla.) added 12 points and five rebounds while sophomore Hannah Puent (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the third Bison in double figures with 10 points and 10 rebounds. GU scored 50 of its 59 points in the paint.

St. Mary's was led by Karon Williams, who scored a game-high 24 points to go with six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Samantha Blaylock chipped in 20 points as the pair combined to score 44 of St. Mary's 62 points. The Seahawks scored 27 points off 29 Bison turnovers.

GU trailed briefly in the first quarter before Perry put the Bison ahead as the forward scored eight of the 14 points in the opening 10 minutes of play. The Bison opened up an eight-point lead in the second quarter and took a 30-26 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, Gallaudet outscored St. Mary's by two points, 15-13. The Bison increased their lead to eight, 47-39, early in the fourth quarter but the Seahawks picked away at that deficit and got back into the game. St. Mary's scored seven straight points as GU narrowly held a 47-46 advantage with 6:25 left in regulation. The Bison were able to bump that margin back up to five at the five-minute mark but after that the game got real close as the Seahawks hit two clutch 3-pointers.

A Bison technical foul opened the door for the Seahawks to take the lead in the closing minutes as they made two free throws and led 56-55. Williams scored six of St. Mary's final eight points in the closing minutes.

Perry made a basket at the 1:41 mark as Gallaudet went back on top, 57-56, but the Seahawks made back-to-back baskets as the Bison turned the ball over in the final minute. Puent scored a layup with 35 seconds left to cut the SMC lead to one, 60-59.

Gallaudet took a quick timeout and got the turnover it needed but turned it right back to the Seahawks as the Bison were forced to foul Williams in the waning seconds. The Bison missed a final 3-point shot as time expired.

UP NEXT
Gallaudet returns home to host Lancaster Bible College (8-3, 3-0 United East) on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 1 p.m.