Newburgh, N.Y. - In a showdown of the top two teams in the Skyline Conference and with home-court advantage in the conference tournament on the line, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team earned a 63-52 victory over Farmingdale State College in the Kaplan Center on Saturday afternoon. Paced by double-doubles from seniors
Jackie Markert (Voorheesville, N.Y.) and
Vanessa Lawson (Kingston, N.Y.), the Blue Knights improved to 21-2 overall and 15-1 inside the Skyline Conference. The Rams dropped to 16-5 overall and 14-2 in league play.
After an opening three-pointer from Farmingdale sophomore Kimberley Blakney (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Mount Saint Mary scored the next 15 points and led by twelve just six minutes in. A lay-up by Lawson at the 8:38 mark of the first half staked the Blue Knights to their biggest lead of the game as they led 26-8. Farmingdale answered with a 17-6 run to close the half, making the score 32-25 at the break.
Out of the intermission, Mount Saint Mary senior Megan Kimmey (Troy, N.Y.) single handedly conducted a 7-0 run for the Blue Knights, surrounding a made free-throw with two three-pointers. The Rams did not score until the 13:38 mark of the second half when sophomore Tiffara Steward (Elmont, N.Y.) drained a triple to cut the lead to eleven (39-28). Farmingdale continued to chip away at the lead and closed the gap to as few as four on two separate occasions.
Leading 51-45 with 6:42 remaining, MSMC sophomore Catie Biordi (Beacon, N.Y.) hit back-to-back breakaway lay-ups, both following pretty feeds from Lawson. Farmingdale would not get closer than eight points for the rest of the way. As the Rams struggled from the free throw line, the Blue Knights hit 6-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes to close out the contest.
Markert finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Lawson completed a nice all-around day with 10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and two steals. Lawson was the calming influence for the Blue Knights who struggled at times to maintain control of the ball. The Blue Knights turned the ball over 28 times.
Kimmey played every second of the game and finished with a team high 11 points. She also had 3 assists and 6 steals. Sophomore Meredith Paggi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), despite playing only 16 minutes because of foul trouble, had 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Blakney poured in a game-high 20 points for the Rams, but shot just 8-for-27 from the field. Steward was the only other player in double figures for Farmingdale as she finished with 14 points.
The Blue Knights limited the Rams to just 29.9-percent shooting from the field and the Rams really struggled from the free throw line, connecting on only 8-of-21 attempts (38.1-percent). Mount Saint Mary shot 35.3-percent from the field and 69.4-percent from the line.
With the win, the Blue Knights took over sole possession of first place in the Skyline Conference and stand to be the top seed in the year-end tournament if they can put up victories in their last two games of the regular season. The Blue Knights host Bard on Wednesday, February 20 at 6:00 p.m. and St. Joseph's College on Saturday, February 23 beginning at 2:00 p.m.
