Stevenson, MD - It was senior day for the Villa Julie women's
basketball team as they played their last regular season game
against the University of Mary Washington Eagles (23-2, 15-1) at
home.
Teammates, parents, coaches and fans thanked the Mustangs' four
seniors-Amanda Courter (Baltimore, MD/ Mercy),
Tonia Cristino (Lancaster, PA/ Hempfield),
Morgan James (Bel Air, MD/ Mercy) and
Tanisha Foster (Baltimore, MD/ St. Frances
Academy)and also team managers Lauren
Humphries and Idia Osaghae - for their
many contributions to the program with a short ceremony before the
contest, and the Mustangs went on to challenge one of its strongest
conference opponents. Mary Washington sits at number one in the
Capital Athletic Conference is also ranked number one in the
region.
Both teams got off to a slow start, and neither broke onto the s
coreboard until nearly five minutes had run off the clock. The
Eagles scored first, but Kristen Steiner (Forest Hill, MD/
Fallston) answered with a layup seconds later. With 10:02
on the clock, a Mustang 3 -pointer from Cristino,
assisted by Courter, set the score at 11-10 with
the Eagles leading by one. For the remainder of the half, the
Mustangs failed to score against the tough Mary Washington defense,
and the Eagles dominated the floor, ending the period with a 2
1-point lead at 31-10.
Looking to redeem themselves, the Mustangs too k to the court
ready for a comeback. But with the Eagles out-shooting Villa
Julie 60 percent to 26.9 percent in the final half and Villa Julie
losing two key players to foul trouble, the Mustangs struggled to
ta ke control of the game, suffering a 75-32 defeat.
Cristino led the team with 11 points and 10
rebounds. Steiner earned nine points for the
squad and tied with Ashley Burrell (Baltimore, MD/
Institute of Notre Dame) for the team's second-most
rebounds at eight.
The Mustangs will go up against the CAC's 2nd place
team, Marymount University, in the conference quarterfinals. The
team will travel to Marymount on Feb. 26 for a contest at 7 p.m.
