Box Score
Postgame Interviews (Jackson & Buchanan-Cummings)
 
KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Feb. 1, 2022) – Things got a little too close for comfort for the USMMA women's basketball team on Tuesday night in the Mariners' home Skyline tilt against St. Joseph's-Brooklyn, but Merchant Marine was able to hold on for a 67-59 victory over the visiting Bears. The win improves the Mariners' record to 16-3 (12-3 Skyline), while SJC falls to 4-14 (4-11 Skyline) in defeat.
 
Freshman Grace Jackson (Parma, Idaho) had a game-high 26 points and 16 rebounds for yet another double-double effort, her team-leading seventh of the season. Sophomore Bryanne Buchanan-Cummings (Dacula, Ga.) added 12 points, while senior Julia Dahlke (San Diego, Calif.) contributed nine, all on three pointers. Junior Madison Demos (Downers Grove, Ill.) had a strong night on the glass, bringing down 14 boards.
 
St. Joseph's actually led most of the first half before the Mariners turned it on late in the second quarter with a 12-0 run that turned a three-point deficit into a nine point lead after a three-pointer by Jackson at 1:38 made it 32-23. USMMA went into the locker room at halftime with a six point lead, 32-26.
 
The Mariner lead got to as many as 17 points late in the third quarter, 47-30, and the hosts also led by double-digits into the fourth before St. Joe's cut it to just six points, 51-45, at 8:40 of the fourth after a 15-4 run.
 
Merchant Marine was able to get back up to a 12-point advantage a couple times over the next few minutes, and led by 10 with just 2:16 to go, 63-53, but again the Bears made it interesting, rattling off a 6-1 run to make it just a five-point game, 64-59 with 35 ticks left. SJC relied on the long ball in the hands of their best player in the final 30 seconds, but they missed three attempts at three-pointers and fouled each time the Mariners brought in the rebounds and USMMA was able to ice the victory in the final seconds.
 
For the Bears, senior Kelly O'Donnell had a team-best 21 points, while junior Alexis Breen added 10. Senior Jamie Provino led St. Joseph's with eight rebounds and junior Emma Kiley had a game-high four blocks.
 
Up next, the Mariners will face arch-rival Coast Guard on Thursday night, Feb. 3, in a make-up from early January's postponement. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Bears' Roland Hall Gym. Live stats and a live video feed of the game will be available with links on the USMMA Women's Basketball Schedule Page.
 
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