Cardinals Pull Away From Gophers Late

TOWSON, Md. - Visiting Catholic University outscored Goucher College 24-11 over the final 10 minutes as it pulled away for a 74-49 Landmark Conference women's basketball victory Tuesday evening at the Decker Sports and Recreation Center.

• Catholic (11-3, 2-1 Landmark) scored the game's first six points.
• Goucher (3-11, 0-3) used an 8-2 spurt to pull within two, 10-8, with 2:44 left in the quarter on a basket by Alexis Kuhlman (Mount Airy, Md./Herndon).
• The Cardinals jumped out to a 15-8 lead, but Kuhlman was fouled on a three-point attempt with 0.8 seconds left and sank all three free throws to make it 15-11 after one.

• The guests scored the first seven points of the second to build a 22-11 lead two minutes into the frame.
• A conventional three-point play by Kyla Smith (Easton, Pa./Easton) with 6:37 left halfted the Cardinal run.
• The play sparked a 10-2 Gopher run, and a three by Julia Cavoli (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) with 4:29 remaining before halftime cut the lead to three, 24-21.
• Leading 27-23 after two Cavoli free throws at the 1:47 mark, Catholic scored the final five points of the half to take a 32-23 lead into intermission.

• Catholic opened the second half with an 11-4 run and built a 43-27 lead 2:39 into the half.
• Trailing 47-29, an 8-2 Goucher spurt capped by two free throws by Kyani Quarles (Houston, Texas/Cristo Rey Jesuit) cut the lead to 12, 49-37, with 1:31 left in the third.
• The Cardinals led 50-38 heading to the final frame.

• Leading 52-40, Catholic reeled off 13 straight points to build a 25-point cushion, 65-40, with 4:13 left.
• The guests took their largest lead, 69-41, with 2:49 remaining.
• Two Smith free throws with just over a minute to play made it 71-49.

• Smith, who was limited to nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, led the Gophers with 18 points, going 9-11 at the free throw line.  She also had a pair of steals.
• Quarles narrowly missed her fourth straight double-double, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds.  Quarles was 5-5 at the line and the nation's leading offensive rebounder had six of her nine caroms on the offensive end.
• Kuhlman added eight points in her Goucher home debut.
• Sydney Nwuli (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) grabbed six rebounds.
• Goucher shot 13-43 from the floor and was 3-13 behind the arc while going 20-25 at the free throw line.
• Catholic, which outrebounded the Gophers 32-27, also went 20-25 at the stripe, while shooting 47% overall and 4-15 from long range.
• The Cardinals held advantages in points off turnovers (28-15) and points in the paint (38-14).

• Goucher is back in action at home Friday afternoon when it hosts Drew in a 2 pm Landmark Conference contest at the Decker Sports and Recreation Center to kick off a conference doubleheader.