As St. Mary's coach Harry Dobson watched his team warm up before last night's game at the College of Notre Dame, he talked about how the Saints still hadn't been tested.
They rolled through a couple of scrimmages, and their regular-season opener against Bowie resulted in a 61-point romp. Where was the challenge?
He found it last night. The opponent was Prospect Hall, a Frederick school ranked among the top 55 teams in the nation by Street & Smith's. And the occasion was the Greater Baltimore Women's Basketball Invitational Mixer at the College of Notre Dame.
Consider No. 5 St. Mary's tested. And once-beaten.
Sophomore Nicole Teasley, a 6-foot AAU All-American, couldn't be stopped, scoring 30 points and grabbing 19 rebounds to lead the Vikings to a 74-69 victory.
Teasley had 17 points in the first half, when Prospect Hall built a 40-27 lead. The margin grew to 15 points after the third quarter before the Vikings began to tire and St. Mary's forward Tara Foran began to heat up.
Foran scored 17 of her 25 points in the last quarter, easing the loss of senior Annetta Davis (26 points, 12 rebounds), who fouled out with 4:12 left and St. Mary's behind, 59-50.
The rally did little to alleviate Dobson's frustration.
"The kids off the bench came to play basketball. The ones who started didn't," he said. "We were lethargic. They out-hustled us for every loose ball. Maybe the seniors needed a wake-up call. We failed our first test."
The Saints gave up too easy baskets in the first half, and they were beaten badly on the boards until the fourth quarter.
"We wanted to keep [Teasley] outside," Dobson said, "but she'd miss a shot and then go inside for the follow. She did that all night."
Angela Kennedy and Shannon Henley each had 17 points for Prospect Hall (3-2), which has lost to Pennsylvania schools Holidaysburg and Altoona. Altoona is ranked No. 7 by Street & Smith's. Sophomore guard Shailen Green had only two points but played exceptional defense.
"I thought we had it easy there, but then we got a little tired once they put that defensive pressure on us," said coach Steven Kennedy.
There were four lead changes in the first quarter, which ended with Prospect Hall in front, 19-13. St. Mary's point guard Erin Hon left the game holding her right elbow after falling near midcourt with four minutes remaining, but she returned in the second quarter.
The Vikings kept a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, going ahead by as many as 21 points. Foran then began to score from the outside and on drives to the basket, but it was too late.
She scored off an inbounds pass with 40 seconds left to reduce the lead to 72-64. Teasley made a layup, but Foran answered with a three-pointer and two free throws to account for the final margin.
A basket by Nicole Foran had cut Prospect Hall's lead to 62-56 with 2:41 left, but Kennedy made a free throw and Teasley buried a three-pointer. Two free throws and a layup by Kennedy increased the lead to 70-56, before Tara Foran hit a three-pointer and a bank shot.