Catholic (14-4) strengthened its strong-hold on second-place in the CAC race with the victory, improving to 6-1 in league play. The Cardinals began the night one game behind first-place Mary Washington (16-0, 6-0), who hosting Marymount University (12-5, 4-2) Wednesday. Salisbury (10-6), which dropped its second straight league game, fell to 4-3 in conference action.
Both Salisbury and Catholic had trouble putting the ball in the basketball Wednesday night. The Cardinals were luke-warm in the first half, hitting 41.4% (12-of-29) field goals while Salisbury was limited to 32.4% (12-of-37) as CUA built a 32-28 lead at the break. Salisbury led for a majority of the opening period, pulling out to an eight-point lead on two occasions and holding its largest lead of nine points (21-12) when Marissa Manzo (6 pt., 4 rb) hit a jumper and a layup with 6:49 on the clock.
Catholic came roaring, outscoring Salisbury 10-0 over the next 1:52 to take a 22-21 lead. The teams then traded leads down the stretch in the first half.
The game remained close in the second half, with the Cardinals never opening up a lead of more than six points. Jackie DeBorger (10 pt, 5 rb, 4 as) started CUA off with a layup, but neither team could build an advantage, despite Salisbury only converting 28.6% (8-of-28) from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Christen Barney led the Sea Gulls in scoring for the seventh time this season, scoring 17 points, while pulling down six rebounds and four assists. Jessica Mills added 10 points and four boards for SU, Monica Merkel dropped in eight points and Kat Kordal finished with six rebounds. Jenna Peters led SU in the rebounding department with seven.
Shannon Mertz paced Catholic with 19 points and 12 boards and Lindsay DiRomualdo added 13 points and five rebounds.
The Gulls will continue its current road trip on Saturday when they visit York College (Pa.) at 2 p.m. before hosting Rowan University in a non-conference matchup Monday at 5:30 p.m.
Salisbury University vs Catholic University 01/25/06 6:00 p.m. at Washington, D.C. DuFour Center At Washington, D.C. DuFour Center CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY 59, SALISBURY UNIVERSITY 55 SALISBURY UNIVERSITY (10-6, 4-3 CAC) Christen Barney 6-18 4-7 17; Jessica Mills 3-5 4-4 10; Monica Merkel 3-11 2-2 8; Marissa Manzo 3-7 0-0 6; Lindsay Martin 2-6 0-1 4; Meghan Phillips 1-5 0-0 3; Kiera Watkins 0-0 3-5 3; Kat Kordal 1-8 0-0 2; Jenna Peters 1-5 0-0 2; Katie MacFarland 0-0 0-0 0; Megan Dowdy 0-4 0-0 0; Meghan Klug 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-70 13-19 55. CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY (14-4, 6-1 CAC) Shannon Mertz 7-17 5-7 19; Lindsay DiRomualdo 5-9 2-3 13; Jackie DeBorger 3-13 3-4 10; Liz Koruda 2-3 1-2 5; Maria Rojas 1-7 2-3 4; Gloria Schnepp 2-3 0-0 4; Kelly Burke 0-0 2-4 2; Laura Kaye 0-3 2-2 2; Jessica Schiavoni 0-0 0-0 0; Lisa Rock 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 17-25 59. Salisbury University.......... 28 27 - 55 Catholic University........... 32 27 - 59 3-point goals-Salisbury University 2-16 (Christen Barney 1-4; Meghan Phillips 1-4; Lindsay Martin 0-3; Jenna Peters 0-1; Megan Dowdy 0-4), Catholic University 2-7 (Lindsay DiRomualdo 1-1; Jackie DeBorger 1-5; Maria Rojas 0-1). Fouled out--Salisbury University-None, Catholic University-None. Rebounds-Salisbury University 47 (Jenna Peters 7), Catholic University 48 (Shannon Mertz 12). Assists-Salisbury University 10 (Christen Barney 4), Catholic University 13 (Jackie DeBorger 4). Total fouls-Salisbury University 21, Catholic University 18. A-150 CUA retains second place in CAC standings