WASHINGTON – Behind a stifling defensive performance, CUA downed Merchant Marine Academy 66-49 inside the DuFour Center on Saturday afternoon.  The Cardinals held the Mariners to 18 first half points and 29 percent shooting overall as CUA ups its record to 16-8 overall and 8-5 in the Landmark Conference.  The Mariners fall to 6-17 and 0-13 following the setback.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the opening nine minutes and led 20-10 after Katarina Owunna's basket with six minutes remaining before halftime.

CUA then scored seven of the next eight to open up a 28-11 advantage with two minutes to go in the half.  The Rangers actually outscored the Cardinals 7-4 in the final 1:42, but CUA still took a 32-18 lead into the locker room.

Seven quick points by CUA right out of the gate in the second pushed the Cardinals lead to 39-18, which was their largest up to that point.

With the score 41-20 CUA ripped off a 7-0 run and the Cardinals began to pour it on from there, taking a 48-20 lead with 15:08 on the clock.

Jenny McGann's free throw with 8:19 to play gave the Cardinals their first 30-point lead of the afternoon and Jill Woerner's three on CUA's next possession made the score 61-28.

The Cardinals led by as many as 34 points during the second half and won handily to sweep the season series from the Mariners.

Woerner finished with 16 points for CUA and was one of three Cardinals in double figures, joining Jenny McGann (14) and Holly Janicki (13).  Owunna pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds and senior Kerri Confrey dished out six assists.  The New York native now sits just seven helpers shy of setting the all-time single season record at CUA.

For the second straight game CUA did a nice job of holding onto the ball with the Cardinals committing only 13 turnovers.  CUA also forced the Mariners into 34 turnovers and scored 32 points off those miscues.

Tamara Kaileh led the Mariners with 17 points, including an 8 of 9 showing at the charity stripe, while Rebecca Grimes netted 10, including the 1,000th point of her career.  Janay Weathers finished one point shy of a double-double, scoring nine points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

On Saturday, February 19 CUA will close out its regular season when Goucher comes to the DuFour Center.  Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.