Hawks Handed Tough Loss by Louisburg

The College of Southern Maryland women's basketball team lost to the Louisburg Hurricanes 98-89 in overtime on December 14.

CSM had a one-point advantage at halftime, leading the Hurricanes 39-38.

Louisburg took the third quarter 26-19, but the Hawks fought hard down the stretch in the fourth quarter, going on an 11-5 run over the last 2:30 of regulation, to come back and send the game to overtime with the score tied at 81.

However, Louisburg used a 7-0 run in the middle of overtime to grab a lead they would hold onto the rest of the way to take the victory.

"I'm proud of them, they played a heck of a basketball game," CSM head coach Ardell Jackson said. "Tonight, we played this team tough throughout, and it showed."

Sophomore Amaya Yancey recorded her second triple-double of the season with her 18 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds.

Freshman Karalina Lawrence registered season-highs with 30 points and 20 rebounds to secure her fifth double-double of the season.

Freshman Makenzie Wilson provided 17 points off the bench for the Hawks, shooting 5-6 from behind the 3-point line. "She's a marksman," Jackson said. "Her poise, the way she can hit big shots at big moments, she can knock them down."

Louisburg shot 70.4 percent from the floor, making 38 of their 54 shots, while CSM converted on 30 of their 64 attempts to finish the game at 46.9 percent.

After starting the season 3-1, CSM has now lost four straight. However, they have gone up against strong competition the last few weeks. They faced Hostos Community College on November 29, who was ranked No. 1 in Division III at the time and is now ranked No. 4, and Nassau Community College on November 30, who was ranked No. 4 at the time and is now ranked No. 1 in Division III. Frederick Community College is currently third in Maryland JUCO, and Louisburg College was in the "Others Receiving Votes" category of the Division II poll released on November 11.

"You look at everybody we played against, we played a heck of a first half of the season," Jackson said. "You're just encouraged, that's why you build the schedule the way you build it, to play against the best. You know the freshman will get better and you can see what they can do against those teams. The sky's the limit for them."

CSM will head to Northern Virginia Community College on December 19 for their last game before the holiday break.