BALTIMORE, Md. – The No. 6 seed Cairn University women's basketball team lost, 86-67, on the road in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) quarterfinals at No. 3 seed Notre Dame of Maryland University on Monday evening.
 
Cairn (9-17, 7-11 CSAC) jetted out to a hot start, taking a 17-8 lead over Notre Dame (14-9, 13-5 CSAC) just over five minutes into the contest. The Highlanders held a 23-22 advantage after one quarter of play. The Gators took their first lead of the bout at the 9:22 mark of the second quarter off of a layup by Ayana Brim and took a six-point lead (44-38) into intermission.
 
In the third, Cairn made its run, reclaiming the lead at 51-50 after a bucked from senior Dakota Hitcher (Ocean City, NJ / Atlantic Christian) with 1:59 left in the frame, but Notre Dame finished the period on a 6-0 run to take a 56-51 into the final stanza. The Gators clung to a 58-55 lead with nine minutes to play, but the defending conference champions would not be denied, going on an 8-0 run from that point to extend their lead to double digits, enough to give them a comfortable advantage for the rest of the contest.
 
Cairn shot a solid 43.5% (27-62) for the game compared to a scorching 48.1% (37-77) mark for the Gators. Cairn shot 50% (8-16) from beyond the arc, its best percentage from long range this season. Notre Dame held a slight edge in the rebounding department (43-37), but won the playoff bout with its efficient distributing, dishing out 28 assists in the contest.
 
Hitchner dominated the game on offense, pouring in a career-high 37 points in her final collegiate game to go along with five rebounds and a season-high five made triples. Freshman Tamia Warner (Ewing, NJ / Ewing) followed with 12 points, finishing the season with five-consecutive games in double figures.
 
The Highlanders ended the season with an overall record of 9-17 and finished 7-11 in conference play. Cairn earned its second bid to the CSAC playoffs in program history this season.