WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The Catholic women's basketball team opened up the Jamie Lynn Roberts Fairfield Inn DC Holiday Classic by welcoming in Mount Saint Mary. The Cardinals used a strong fourth quarter, mostly from inside the paint, to close out a 66-53 win over the Knights and advance to 7-1 on the season.

The Cardinals started the contest off strong in the opening quarter, getting out to a 20-7 lead, including a 9-0 run to start the game out. Four of Catholic's five starters scored during the run including a three from Carly Mulvaney to start things off. The Cardinals held the Knights to just 3-for-13 from the floor (23%) to open up the 13 point advantage.

After opening up its largest lead of the game at 15 at the beginning of the second quarter, the Cardinals struggled to slow the Knights down from beyond the arc for the remainder of the quarter. Mount Saint Mary shot 5-for-10 in the quarter to help trim the deficit down to three, 33-30 going into the halftime break.
Elizabeth Lofaro did the bulk of the damage from downtown, knocking down three of the triples herself. 

Both teams struggled from the floor in the third quarter and it remained a three point deficit for the Knights going into the fourth quarter at 47-44. The Cardinals went to Anna Scoblick often at the beginning of the quarter as she scored the first six points for Catholic. Sam Blumenthal and Amelia Kennedy both converted at the foul line to break the only tie of the game at the end of third. 

The Cardinals attacked the paint in the early stages of the fourth quarter with the first 10 points in the quarter coming in the lane allowing Catholic to create an eight point cushion for itself. Catholic was also very effective at the charity stripe, shooting 9-for-12 as a team to move ahead by double digits once again. The Knights continued to struggle offensively, shooting just 4-for-18 from the field (22%), which allowed the Cardinals to start off the week with a 66-53 win. 

Scoblick's second half production brought her to 18 points on the afternoon to lead the squad, followed by Keegan Douglas and Alexa Kenah who both also had double figures with 16 and 13 respectively. Mulvaney dominated on the glass, pulling down a career-high 16 rebounds to help Catholic to a 51-43 advantage on the board in the contest. 

Despite the game being within single digits throughout, the Cardinals never trailed in the entire game of scoring the first bucket. Catholic held Mount Saint Mary to just 19-for-66 (29%) from the field in the game and the team now has a season-high win streak of four games.

The Cardinals are back in action tomorrow, again at Franny Murray Court, in the final game of the Jamie Lynn Roberts Fairfield Inn DC Holiday Classic against Maryville. The game is set to tip off at 4 pm.