WASHINGTON – The No. 3 seed Gallaudet University women's basketball team will face No. 1 seed St. Mary's College of Maryland this Saturday, March 1, at 1 p.m. in the championship game of the United East tournament.
The winner of the United East championship game will receive the conference's automatic bid into the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship field.
This will be the third meeting between the two schools this season. Gallaudet (17-10) is the only team to hand St. Mary's (20-7) its only conference loss this season. The Bison won on the road last month (Jan. 22) by the score of 61-54. The Seahawks won the earlier match-up, 66-61, back on Nov. 26, 2024.
Gallaudet and St. Mary's have a storied history going back to when the two were members of the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), now known as the Coast-to-Coast (C2C). This will be the 49th meeting of the programs on Saturday as the Bison hold a 35-28 edge dating back to 1982. GU is 11-11 in St. Mary's arena, including winners of the last two in the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center Arena.
The two teams have met twice in the postseason. GU and SMC have only met once in the United East postseason in the semifinal round on Feb. 25, 2022, where the Bison won, 62-55, in the Field House. This will be the second time the two programs have met with a conference championship on the line. The Seahawks defeated the Bison in the Field House, 75-69, in the 1999 CAC championship game. The two teams made the NCAA tournament and the Bison won the rematch with the Seahawks a week later, 80-73.
Gallaudet is 0-3 in United East championship games (2022, 2019, 2011) and 0-2 in CAC championship games (1999, 1997).
The Bison have a deep team with a strong senior class that has a lot of big-game experience. GU is led by
Cam Lexow (Abington, Pa.) who averages 15.0 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. Lexow leads the United East with 61 blocks, second in steals 90 and ninth in assists (101). Senior guard
Raj Guettler (Frederick, Md.) is second on the team with 11.7 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game, a team-high mark. Guettler is 14 points away from 1,000 career points. Senior guard
Claire Ruiz-Tucker (Middletown, Md.) joins Guettler in the backcourt and is second on the team with 97 assists (11th in the United East). Upfront the Bison will lean on junior center
Hannah Puent (Indianapolis, Ind.), senior center
Alexis Roberts (Newton, Miss.) and first year
Mackenzie Schirg (Factoryville, Pa.). Senior guard
Crystal Salit (Boyds, Md.) is a sharpshooter from the outside with a team-high 28 3-pointers.
St. Mary's is led by junior guard Sam Blaylock who has made a United East best 75 3-pointers and averaged 12.4 points per game. Freshman forward Keira Mason is second on the team with a 12.2 points per game average and 8.7 rebounds per game. Mason has tallied 236 rebounds (seventh in the United East) and made 32 blocks (sixth in the United East). Junior guard Tramarie Mobray leads the Seahawks with 97 assists (11 in the United East) and 53 steals as she averages 9.9 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Olivia Liszt is another starter that contributes a lot for St. Mary's as she averages 9.6 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game.
GU lost last year to Penn St.-Abington, 91-87, in the Volt Division semifinal round at home. St. Mary's lost at Penn St. Harrisburg, 59-44, in the other Volt Division semifinal.
2025 United East Women's Basketball Championship Game
No. 3 Gallaudet (17-10) at No. 1 St. Mary's (20-7)
When: Saturday, March 1, at 1 p.m.
Where: St. Mary's City, Md.
Watch:
https://smcmathletics.com/watch/?Live=626&type=Live
Live Stats:
https://smcmathletics.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
Tickets: $5 for Adults; $3 for non-SMCM students, High School, Senior Citizens and children 5 years and up. Under 5 are free.
NOTE: St. Mary's Arena is CASH ONLY. Please bring CASH for admission and concessions. Thank you!
FAN BUS
Gallaudet University Student Engagement & Learning (SEL) is coordinating a free fan bus for Saturday's game to travel from Gallaudet's campus down to St. Mary's City, Md., and back. Seats are limited. Those who register and pay the refundable $20 deposit will have a guaranteed seat. You will receive your deposit back once you board the bus to return to campus. If you do not show up on Saturday morning or you don't return to campus on the bus you forfeit your $20 deposit. First come, first serve. Tickets to the game will be provided but you are on your own for food and drinks. Meet at the Field House by 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, March 1. The bus will depart at 10 a.m. Any bags will be searched before boarding the bus. For more information, please contact
sel@gallaudet.edu.
Sign-up For Fan Bus here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIQeUQ_0Ijhf3h4UMutmOZSeexV_RdY6T84OYDD4RLRkH1AA/viewform
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