Langhorne, PA - The Cairn women's basketball team fended off the Notre Dame of Maryland Gators on Saturday afternoon to snatch a 57-53 victory. The Highlander led for a total of 35:09 in the contest, but after an 8-2 run in the fourth quarter the game was tied 53-53 with 1:45 remaining. In the final minute, Aigner Bookard made a layup to break the tie and followed with a pair of free throws to seal the four-point victory for the Highlanders.

Bookard led three double-digit scorers for Cairn with 13 points off the bench. EJ Hartzler went for 12 points with a 4-12 effort from beyond the arc and Kendra Stum chimed in with 10 points to join Bookard with 10-plus points. Payton Emerick dominated the glass, pulling down 17 rebounds in the game (her most in a regulation game this season).

The Gators opened to game with a layup and a free throw while holding the Highlanders scoreless through the first three minutes. EJ Hartzler got the Highlanders on the board with a three that tied the game at 3-3 just over three minutes into the contest. After Charlotte Camp and Notre Dame's Dania Taylor traded jumpers, the Highlanders started a 7-0 run to take a 12-5 lead.

That modest run gave the Highlanders a lead they would not give up for 33 minutes. While Cairn did hold a lead from the 5:16 mark in the first quarter until the final two minutes of regulation, they never really ran away with the contest. Their lead remained in the single-digits for the vast majority of the time.

In the second quarter the Gators used a 6-0 run to pull within one point at 20-19, but Cairn countered with a 6-0 run of their own with three buckets on three-straight possessions from the Stum sisters. Victoria Stum wedged a layup between a pair of buckets from her older sister Kendra Stum.

After a layup late in the half from the Gators, the Highlanders held a four-point lead over Notre Dame, 27-23.

Midway through the third quarter EJ Hartzler connected on a three off a pass from Kendra Stum to give Cairn a double-digit lead at 40-30. The Gators responded with a quick 5-0 run to cut the Cairn lead in half. Notre Dame once again made a jumper with just seconds left in the quarter to slice their deficit to 46-39 heading into the fourth quarter.

Just like they had in the second and third quarters, Notre Dame hung around for the first six minutes of the fourth before pulling out a 6-0 run to tie the 53-53 with less than two minutes to play. Cairn bent, but did not break down the stretch and four-straight points from Aigner Bookard in the final minute gave Cairn the 57-53 victory.

The victory moves the Highlanders to 9-13 on the season and 5-9 in the CSAC. Cairn will look for its 10th victory of the season on Monday when they travel to Valley Forge. Game time slated for 7:00 p.m.