No. 12 Cardinals Strengthen Case for Top Seed

Huff's 15 Second-Half Points Come too Late for Gophers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Catholic controlled its own destiny coming into tonight and cruised to victory, setting up a winner-take-all battle on Saturday against Moravian for the Landmark's top spot.

Catholic (23-1, 12-1 Landmark) never trailed, scoring first less than a minute into the game on its way to racing out to a 6-0 edge.

Goucher (6-17, 2-11 Landmark) scored the next six to level the score, courtesy of Chelsea Akibo-Betts (Beltsvile, Md./High Point), Adrienne Flowers (Columbia, Md./Pallotti), and India Perkins (Brentwood, Md./Bladensburg).

The Gophers failed to score over the next 8:30, however, kickstarting a 20-5 Catholic run to put the Cardinals up for good.

Monique Welch (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) ended that run with a jumper with nine seconds left in the half to send the Gophers into intermission down 26-13.

Catholic came out of the break on a 14-2 run to pull away, but Goucher would not quit.

Over the remaining 14:55 of the game, the Gophers outscored the hosts by a 28-21 margin, resulting in the 61-43 final scoreline.

Over that frame, Sharnell Huff (Bowie, Md./Bowie) scored 15 of Goucher's 28 points, finishing with a game-high 18.

All five Catholic players finished in double figures.