SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University women's basketball team hung tough for the first three quarters but saw the Marymount (Va.) Saints pull away in the fourth, falling 78-60 on Saturday afternoon at the Maggs Physical Activities Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Hailey Ader hit the game's first shot to put the Sea Gulls up early. From there the teams engaged in a tight opening five minutes of the first quarter that saw two ties and three lead changes, with the Saints eventually emerging from the scrum with a 12-7 lead at the 3:49 mark.
• Emma Wivell hit a three-pointer and Ashlynn Burrows followed with a jumper to tie it at 12-12, but Symantha Shackelford scored the next five points for MMU to build it back to 17-12. The margin stayed five points at 20-15 through the end of the first.
• Claire Smith's layup upped the Saint lead to 22-15 to open the second quarter, at which point the Sea Gulls began chipping away. Ader and Abby Wilkinson combined to score Salisbury's next seven points to close the gap to 26-24, then Wivell converted a three-point play to put SU back on top 27-26 at the 3:52 mark.
• Marymount answered with the next five, but Wivell and Burrows brought the Sea Gulls even again, 31-31, with a pair of buckets. After one SU free throw and an Ava Achtyl layup within the final 30 seconds, Alex Bull beat the buzzer with a long two to give Salisbury a 34-33 lead at the break.
• The teams traded a pair of layups to begin the fourth quarter, then Wilkinson gave Salisbury a 41-37 lead with a triple. The Saints countered with a 7-0 run, capped by a Terra Dzambo three to make it 44-41 MMU at the 3:53 mark.
• After SU got back within 47-46 on a Wivell trey, Marymount surged to an 8-0 run that Shackelford sparked with her own triple, building the cushion to 55-46. Sym Deloatch stopped the bleeding with a layup and then hit one-of-two free throws to reduce the SU hole to 55-49 at the end of the third.
• Tori Rumbaugh nailed a three at the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter to get Salisbury within one possession at 55-52. From there the Sea Gulls went cold from the floor, not making another field goal until 47 second remained. In the meantime the Saints went on a 13-0 run over the next five minutes, capped by a Smith jumper that made it 68-52 with 3:36 to go.
• The game devolved into a battle at the foul line over the final three minutes, and Avery DeFazio's free throws with eight seconds left gave Marymount an 18-point win at 78-60.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Abby Wilkinson paced the Sea Gulls with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, hitting both attempts from beyond the arc, and hauled in five rebounds.
• Emma Wivell netted a season-high 13 points (5-of-11) and also went 2-of-2 from long range. Wivell hauled in five boards with two steals and one block.
• Alex Bull chipped in seven points off the bench with three assists, while Hailey Ader, Ashlynn Burrows and Emily Dilger each scored six points.
• Salisbury shot 44 percent (22-of-50) for the game, including 6-of-8 from three-point range. SU recorded 13 assists on its 22 field goals.

MARYMOUNT GAME NOTES

• Symantha Shackelford paced the Saint attack with 22 points (7-of-14), going 4-of-7 from downtown. Shackelford also registered four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Chandler Eddleton narrowly missed a double-double with 17 points (7-of-11) and nine rebounds, plus four assists and three steals.
• Claire Smith chipped in 13 points with five boards, while Ava Achtyl scored nine points and Terra Dzambo eight. The five MMU starters combined for 69 of the Saints' 78 points.
• Marymount shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the floor, including 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from distance, and hit 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) from the foul line.
• The Saints outrebounded SU 39-29, including 16-9 on the offensive glass.
• MMU forced 18 Sea Gull turnovers and won the giveaway battle by six.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will have nearly three weeks off before heading down to Georgia for a pair of post-Christmas games.
• SU is set to battle Oglethorpe on Thursday, Dec. 29, in Brookhaven, Ga., with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football, Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 188 conference championships and 43 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.