SALISBURY, Md. – Four extra days of rest proved to be no detriment to the Salisbury University women's basketball team, who cleared 80 points for the first time this season on the way to beating the St. Mary's (Md.) Seahawks 83-62 on Wednesday night at Maggs PAC.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams came to play in a barn-burning first quarter, shooting a combined 64.3 percent (18-of-28) from the floor. Kaylee Otlowski scored two layups in the first 30 seconds, but SMCM responded with the next five to take a 5-4 lead. The Sea Gulls and Seahawks went back-and-forth for the next few minutes, then at the 6:10 mark Otlowski broke an 11-11 tie with a layup.
• SU pushed the lead to four on two occasions, including another Otlowski jumper to make it 19-15 with 5:06 to go in the first, but St. Mary's rallied to tie it at 21-21 when Emmey German hit a jumper at the 2:47 mark. Salisbury grabbed the reins for the rest of the quarter to finish the first on a 7-2 push, capped by a Jada Welbon free throw, to go up 28-23.
• Suffocating defense allowed the Sea Gulls to truly seize control in the second quarter. Lauren Fortescue opened the period with a jumper then followed it up with a three-pointer to push the lead to double digits at 33-23. Emily Dilger hit one-of-two free throws and then Otlowski knocked down a bucket at 7:44 to make it an 8-0, forcing St. Mary's to take a timeout.
• Dilger hit another basket a minute later, then Welbon drained one at the 5:05 mark, pushing the run to 14-0 and the lead to 40-23. St. Mary's finally got on the board in the quarter with a Karon Williams jumper with 4:44 remaining before halftime; Dilger immediately answered with a two,
• Salisbury's lead got as high as 19 in the quarter and the Sea Gulls entered halftime with a commanding 48-34 lead. SU made more shots (nine) than the Seahawks attempted (eight) in the period.
• The two sides came out of halftime sluggish, but the Sea Gulls eventually found their rhythm. After an early St. Mary's bucket, Kylie Webb took a feed from Otlowski and hit a trey. The Seahawks answered with a two but Otlowski answered their answer with a layup, and Webb drained another from downtown to make it 56-38 at the 5:19 mark.
• Ashlynn Burrows made back-to-back baskets in a minute's span to get SU up 60-40 with 4:01 to go, then Burrows closed the period with a jumper to get it back to 20 points at 63-43.
• Kolby Brown and Welbon hit two early jumpers to start the fourth quarter, then Welbon capped a 7-1 opening run with a three to make it 70-44 Salisbury with just over nine minutes to go. From there, the Sea Gulls emptied their bench and never allowed the Seahawks to get closer than 19 points again.
• Sym Deloatch's two free throws with 35 seconds remaining put Salisbury over the 80-point mark for the first time this season. Madison Cuthbert's jumper in the final seconds gave the Sea Gulls a blackjack victory margin of 21 points.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Kaylee Otlowski turned in her fourth double-double in five games this season. She led all scorers with 16 points (7-of-10) and hauled in 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Otlowski now has 20 double-doubles in her Sea Gull career.
• Ashlynn Burrows made a splash off the bench, pouring in a career-high 14 points (7-of-12) in 18 minutes, and Lauren Fortescue made it three Sea Gulls in double figures with 10 points (4-of-12).
• Amber Onyekwere wreaked havoc on both ends of the court, scoring nine points (3-of-8) with five boards, five steals and three assists. Her understudy Jada Welbon put up similar numbers, going for eight points (3-of-5), three steals and two assists.
• Salisbury shot 45.7 percent (32-of-70) for the game, notching assists on 20 of 32 made field goals.
• The Sea Gulls outrebounded St. Mary's 40-27, including a staggering 19-3 on the offensive glass to allow SU to hoist up 27 more shots than the Seahawks.

ST. MARY'S GAME NOTES

• Karon Williams and Cassidy Kupchinskas each netted 15 points to lead St. Mary's, combining to shoot 10-of-16 from the floor. Williams yanked down six rebounds but turned it over eight times.
• Amira Whitaker added 10 points of her own, and Cameron Mangold came off the bench for eight points in 15 minutes.
• The Seahawks went 46.5 percent (20-of-43) from the floor and 78.6 percent (22-of-28) from the free-throw line.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury plays its penultimate game of the 2021 regular season, hosting Christopher Newport in an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon.
• The Sea Gulls bested the Captains earlier this month in Newport News, winning 66-53 in an exhibition game on Feb. 10.
• Tipoff from the Maggs PAC is set for 3 p.m. with coverage beginning on the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN) at 2:45 p.m.