SALISBURY, Md. - A ferocious defensive effort propelled the Salisbury University women's basketball team to a 68-45 victory over Capital Athletic Conference foe Gallaudet University on Saturday afternoon at the Maggs Center. The Sea Gulls (2-13, 2-4 CAC) turned in their best effort of the season, thus far, with the 68-point performance.

Salisbury's defensive effort in the first half was relentless as the Sea Gulls held Gallaudet (4-9, 0-6 CAC) in check for the first 20 minutes of the game as the Bison shot 19 percent from the floor and managed just 13 points. The total team effort on defense also produced five first-half steals as SU caused 12 Bison turnovers which led to 12 Sea Gull points.

The offense was able to take advantage of the strong effort on the defensive end to begin the game as SU was paced by freshman Glen Charlton's eight points. Junior forwards Kylie Hall and Janay Johnson also chipped in six points apiece to give the Sea Gulls a 13-point advantage at the break, 26-13.

The Sea Gulls caught fire in the second half offensively as they shot 54.8 percent from the field, which included a 4-for-6 effort from behind the three-point arc. All four three-pointers came from freshman Katherine Curran, who scored 16 second half points en route to a team-high 18 points. Curran also grabbed 11 rebounds to record her first double-double this season and the first of her career. Three other players reached double figures for the Sea Gulls. Johnson shot 60 percent (6-for-10) from the field to finish with 14 points and Charlton posted 12 points in the win. Hall was one rebound shy of recording her fifth-straight double-double as she finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Sophomore Chante McKinney ran the offense well during her 30 minutes of play as she recorded a team-high six assists to go along with four points and five rebounds. Freshman Meghan Dunn chipped in eight points in the victory. Newly acclimated sophomore Mary Mattson saw her first minutes of the season. She had an excellent individual effort to fight through traffic underneath the basket for a lay-up to record her first points in her SU debut.

The defense turned in its finest game of the season as the Bison only managed to shoot 30 percent from the field, a season-best for the Sea Gull defense. In addition, the offense protected the ball well as they made a season-low in turnovers.

The maroon and gold will have a day off before they return to the court on Monday, January 19, for a men's and women's CAC home doubleheader against Stevenson University. The women will tip-off at 6 p.m. followed by the men's game.