Arlington, Va. – Marymount University's fourth-seeded women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the 2014 Capital Athletic Conference Championships with a 51-33 victory over visiting fifth-seed Mary Washington on Tuesday night. The Saints earn their 15th-straight semifinals appearance and 22nd overall, both league records.
Aliya Roseborough led the Saints (17-9) with a game-high 14 points off the bench while Katelyn Fischer added 12 and Aileen Maknati had 10.
Samantha Kane and Kievanna Lacey led the Blue and White with nine rebounds each while Fischer chimed in with six assists, five rebounds and four steals.
A back-and-forth beginning to the first half saw eight lead changes and a pair of ties as the archrivals battled for the edge. With the game tied at 18-18 with 4:30 remaining in the frame, Marymount held UMW (18-8) without a field goal for the final 4:44 of the half and closed out the stanza on an 8-1 run to take a 26-19 lead into the break.
The Saints opened the second half with four unanswered points and held the Eagles without a field goal for another three minutes. Following an old-fashioned three-point play from Mary Washington to make it 30-22 at the 16:58 mark, Marymount put together a 12-0 run over the next eight minutes to push its advantage to 42-22 with 9:59 to play. The Eagles would rally to pull within 11 down 42-31with 6:00 left but wouldn't hit another field goal the rest of the way.
Marymount's defense gave the Eagles fits all night and held UMW to just 22.6 percent shooting from the floor, a season-best for the Saints. The Blue and White also held Mary Washington without a three-pointer in the game, the first time they've achieved the feat all season. Mary Washington's 33 points are also the second fewest allowed by MU this year.
Brianne Comden and Sam Partonen led Mary Washington with nine points each while Comden grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and five blocks.
Marymount advances to face tournament top-seed #14 York (Pa.) on the road on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.