Maryland woman follows father's luck to $50,000 lottery prize

March 16 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman who stopped for a snack at a convenience store remembered her father's recently lottery luck at the same business and ended up winning $50,000 from a scratch-off ticket.

The 23-year-old Frederick County woman told Maryland Lottery officials she was buying a snack from the High's store in Thurmont when she remembered her father had recently won a significant prize from a scratch-off ticket he had purchased from the same store.

"I was in line to pay when I saw the lottery sign, and that's when I remembered," the player recalled. "I decided right then to get a scratch-off, and this was the one that caught my eye."

The woman selected a $50,000 Cash scratch-off ticket and was initially disappointed to find only one winning number.

"I thought there would have been four or five chances to win, but when I scratched the prize under the one match, I wasn't disappointed anymore," she said.

The player initially thought she had won $5,000.

"I was so excited. I'd never won anything like that much before," she said.

A second look revealed she had actually won the $50,000 top prize.

"It was stunning, like nothing that's ever happened to me before. I could not believe it. It's hard to believe even now," she told officials.

The winner said her prize money will go toward paying off her college loans.

This article originally appeared on UPI.com