SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - December 19, 2023 - Chatham Women's Basketball (9-2, 6-1) was victorious in its first game at the Puerto Rico Clasico with a 75-53 win over the St. Mary's College of Maryland Seahawks (8-5, 1-0) at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez on Tuesday. The win is the eighth in a row for the Cougars, which breaks the program record of seven from the 2021-22 season.

Junior guard Ashlie Louden led the game with 16 points on 6-13 shooting, including 4-10 from three-point range. Louden ranks second in the PAC with 28 three-pointers on the season. She added three rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win. Sophomore forward Alyssa Laukus netted 12 points on 5-7 shooting and pulled down five boards with two blocks. Juniors Samantha Hardy (5-5) and Emily Durkee were both perfect from the free-throw line and both scored in double-figures, with 11 from Hardy and 10 from Durkee. Durkee added a game-high five assists. Sophomore guard Hannah Chenault scored eight points with two three-pointers and had three rebounds and three assists. Chenault is third in the conference with 22 threes on the year.

Chatham took control of the game with a dominant first quarter, which started with a long 27-6 run for the Cougars and ended up 36-13 after the first 10 minutes. Chatham was 13-19 from the floor in the opening frame and had 16 points off turnovers. The Seahawks battled back and won the second quarter 19-13 to cut the Cougar halftime lead to 49-32. The Cougar defense turned it back up in the second half, with just eight points allowed in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth.

Chatham ended the day with 19 steals from 28 Seahawk turnovers and 37 points off turnovers. The Cougars shot 44.3% (27-61) from the field and went 8-28 from deep. They also had their best free-throw percentage of the season at 81.3% (13-16). St. Mary's (MD) shot just 21.7% (5-23) from beyond the arc.

Women's Basketball is back tomorrow morning for their second of two games at the Puerto Rico Clasico when they face Elizabethtown.