Smith Moves 13 Points Closer to Major Milestone

Missed FTs, Layups Come Back to Haunt Gophers in 52-49 Loss

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher's Amber Smith (Baltimore, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) created the seventh tie of this afternoon's Landmark Conference game in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy when she converted a layup with 2:13 left to play. Thirty-two seconds later, the senior forward put the Gophers ahead 49-48 when she canned a free throw.

But the only four points tallied in the final 1:40 of the contest all went up on Merchant Marine's side of the scoreboard as the Mariners (5-7, 1-4 Landmark) were able to pull out a 52-49 victory over head coach Didi Cotton's Gophers.

Kirsten Healy provided the Mariners with a 50-49 advantage when she landed a jumper with 1:14 remaining. The Gophers' next two possessions ended with missed three-point attempts, paving the way for Brooke Picillo to add two points to Merchant Marine's lead by knocking down a pair of free throws with :30 showing on the clock.

The Gophers (5-10, 1-4 Landmark) got two decent looks — both from three-point range — on their final possession, but when neither would drop, the Mariners had their fourth victory over Goucher in five meetings since the formation of the Landmark Conference.

Missed free-throw attempts and unsuccessful layups plagued the Gophers from start to finish. They were 5-of-13 at the charity stripe in the first half and missed five more free throws in the second period; they were unable to convert as many as 18 layups over the course of the contest.

Smith was Goucher's only double-digit scorer as she supplied the Gophers with 13 points, leaving her only 38 points shy of becoming the ninth female player in school history to reach 1,000 points during her career.

Picillo matched Smith's 13-point effort to lead the Mariners.