WASHINGTON - The United East women's basketball conference schedule began for Gallaudet University here Tuesday night on Padden Court as the Bison welcomed St. Mary's College of Maryland to the Field House.

After a strong start by GU the visiting Seahawks countered and held the lead for the majority of the game en route to a 66-61 win.

Gallaudet (2-5, 0-1 United East) scored the game's first seven points with five coming from sophomore guard Cam Lexow (Abington, Pa.) in the opening two minutes. The Bison held a 9-2 lead but St. Mary's (4-3, 1-0 United East) quickly knotted the game at nine apiece and took a 21-15 lead into the second quarter.

The Bison were very consistent with their point totals per quarter while St. Mary's scored 20 or more points in the first and fourth quarters.

The difference in the game was St. Mary's shooting from behind the 3-point arc as the Seahawks knocked down seven of 15 shots (46.7 percent) while Gallaudet on made 2 of 10 (20 percent). St. Mary's guard Sam Blaylock led the way with four 3-pointers as she tallied a team-high 16 points and five assists.

St. Mary's led 36-29 at the half.

GU was unfazed by the deficit and slowly chipped away at the margin in the third quarter where the Bison outscored the Seahawks, 15-10. The Bison pulled to within one points, 43-42, of the Seahawks and eventually tied the game at 46 early in the fourth.

It was a close game back-and-forth in the fourth quarter as the game was tied twice and GU took two 1-point leads twice before the Seahawks pulled away at the end.

Senior guard Sunita Schmidjorg (Austin, Texas) netted eight of her 13 points in the fourth quarter. Lexow completed a double-double with 10 rebounds and matched Schmidjorg with 13 points. Lexow added eight assists, five steals and four blocks in 36 minutes played. Schmidjorg passed out five assists in the loss.

Seniors Alexis Roberts (Newton, Miss.) and Claire Ruiz-Tucker (Middletown, Md.) chipped in eight points each. Roberts was second on the team with nine rebounds and two blocks. Ruiz-Tucker and senior Raj Guettler (Frederick, Md.) had eight rebounds apiece. 

St. Mary's had three players in double figures led by Blaylock, forward Keira Mason (15 points) and Hallmah Hajhassan (10 points). Junior guard Tramarie Mobray grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and passed out five assists.

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Gallaudet will host Salisbury University (3-3) this Saturday, Nov. 30, at 2 p.m. in the Field House in a non-conference game.