BALTIMORE, Md. – The Cairn University women's basketball team won, 64-63 on the road at Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) preseason favorite Notre Dame of Maryland University on Wednesday evening.
Cairn (5-5, 3-2 CSAC) jumped out to a 5-4 lead over Notre Dame of Maryland (3-6, 3-2 CSAC) after senior
Dakota Hitchner (Ocean City, NJ / Atlantic Christian) converted a layup just under two minutes into the contest. The Gators got the upper hand in the quarter, however, finishing on a 16-5 run to end the frame and led 20-14 after one. Notre Dame extended its lead to 27-14 (its largest lead of the game) with 6:40 left in the first half, but the Highlanders managed to cut the lead to single digits and trailed 34-25 at intermission.
In the third, the Highlanders trailed by 11 (45-34) at the 4:48 mark of the stanza, but ended the quarter on a blistering 15-4 run to tie the game heading into the final period. In the fourth quarter, both teams traded the lead back-and-forth and were deadlocked at 57-57 with five minutes to play. Cairn then ignited a 7-0 run, capped off by a jumper from senior
Korin Bradley (Levittown, PA / Bucks County Community College) to give the Highlanders a 64-57 lead with 54 seconds left. The Gators did not go away, drilling two three pointers in the final minute to cut the lead to one and had the final possession of the contest with a chance to win the game with 16 seconds left. Notre Dame missed a corner three and collected the offensive rebound, but freshman
Taylor Hinson (Carney's Point, NJ / Collingswood HS) rejected the second-chance effort as time expired, granting the Highlanders the victory.
Cairn shot a season-best 45.8% (27-59) from the field compared to 31.7% (26-82) for the Gators. Cairn dished out 13 assists in the contest.
Cairn was led offensively by senior
Markie Watson (Jupiter, FL / Holy Cross Academy) who finished in double figures for the second-straight game with 14 points and tied a team-high with four assists with freshman
Kailee Sobrino (Vail, AZ / Empire HS). Hinson followed with 12 points off the bench and ripped down nine rebounds, while Hitchner added 11 points. Bradley led the Highlanders in the rebounding department with a team-high 11 rebounds, tying a career-high.
Cairn will be back on the court on Saturday, December 11 when it returns home to take on the University of Valley Forge in a CSAC matchup at 1 p.m.
