Mary Washington and York secured home victories in the first round of the CAC women's basketball tournament on Tuesday evening to advance to Thursday's semifinals. 

Third-seeded Mary Washington defeated sixth-seeded St. Mary's 78-48 in Fredericksburg, Va. The Eagles (22-4) will travel to second-seeded Christopher Newport (22-3) for a 6 p.m. tip-off on Thursday. 

Fourth-seeded York held off fifth-seeded Salisbury 54-52 to advance to the semifinals for the 11th consecutive year. The Spartans (20-6) will face off against top-seeded Marymount (21-4) in Arlington, Va. at 6 p.m. The loss ends the defending CAC champion Sea Gulls' season at 13-13. 

Click here for the CAC women's basketball bracket. 

Mary Washington was led by 28-point performance from center Brianne Comden, who shot 11-of-14 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.  Comden scored her 1,000th career point early in the third quarter.  Kendall Parker added 18 points off the bench for the Eagles. The second and third quarters proved critical for UMW, as it outscored the visiting Seahawks 46-21 combined in those two periods. 

York and Salisbury went back-and-forth in a hotly contested contest at Wolf Gymnasium, with Katie Wagner coming through in the clutch for the Spartans down the stretch of the two-point victory. Wagner scored York's final six points, including the game-winning layup with 12 seconds remaining. The Sea Gulls had one last chance to tie or take the lead, but Julia McLaughlin's jumper was off the mark and the Spartans escaped with the win. 

Wagner led the Spartans with a game-high 17 points along with eight rebounds, while Sam Hruz tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds, seven blocks and four assists. McLaughlin notched a double-double for Salisbury with 16 points and 10 boards, while Lauren Rothfeld added 12 points and seven boards in the defeat.