The Mariners were unable to pull out the victory against Contra Costa College on Tuesday, but Molly Carmody did all she could to keep her team in it. The freshman guard from Sir Francis Drake High School led the Mariners with 26 points as COM was unable to keep up with the fast paced Comets and lost 82-56.

The game started out a quick pace with COM taking a 7-6 lead before Contra Costa went on a 9-0 run to take the lead they would not relinquish. The halftime score of 43-27 did not belie the quality of play of College of Marin. Jaychelle Price had a pair of excellent left handed drives to keep the game close.  The second half started out rocky as the Mariners were held scoreless for the first five minutes. Contra Costa pushed their lead to 28 points at one juncture before Carmody found the bottom of the net on a pair of baseline jumpers.

College of Marin was missing guard Monica Vasquez, as the Mariners had only six players to the seven of Contra Costa. Despite the loss assistant coach Jared Feldman was upbeat about the game “considering our opponent and the way we’ve played of late, there are a lot positives to take from the game. We scored the ball well and played quality half-court defense, if we can tighten up on transition we’ll be very competitive in conference play.”

Carmody led the way with 26 points on 11 of 25 shooting, 1 of 4 from three point range and 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Jaychelle Price added 10 points and Darrian Cross had seven points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

The Mariners second conference game of the year is Thursday, at Laney College at 5:30PM.