Newburgh, N.Y. - Behind a 16-3 run to start the game and a 10-2 spurt to start the second half, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team cruised past Mount Saint Vincent, 69-51, in Skyline Conference action Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Shannon Sangster (Syracuse, N.Y.) scored a game-high 20 points for the Blue Knights as they improved to 19-2 overall and 13-1 inside the conference. The loss for the Dolphins was only their fourth of the season as they dropped to 16-4 overall and 12-3 in league play.

Junior Meredith Paggi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) jump started the Blue Knights, scoring the first five points of the game within the first forty-eight seconds. Sangster hit back-to-back lay-ups in the opening run and senior Vanessa Lawson (Kingston, N.Y.) capped the opening five minutes with a jumper to give the Blue Knights a 16-3 advantage.

The Blue Knights extended the lead to as many as nineteen in the first half and led 31-12 with just over seven minutes to play in the period. Mount Saint Vincent clawed their way back into the game with a 13-2 run over the course of the next six minutes, however, closing the gap to 33-25. Sophomores Karissa Koerner (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and Ciara Clarke (Warwick, N.Y.) combined for nine points during the run and sophomore Courtney Heesemann (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) hit back-to-back buckets to cap it. Sangster hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to make the half time score 35-25.

Mount Saint Mary put any thoughts of a comeback to rest with a 10-2 run to start the second half. Senior Jackie Markert (Voorheesville, N.Y.) had six points during the streak and Mount Saint Vincent was forced to use two time-outs in the opening six minutes of the half. The Dolphins would never get closer than 13 points for the rest of the way and the Blue Knights cruised to a 69-51 win.

Sangster shot 8-for-16 from the field and collected 6 boards to complement her 20 points. Lawson scored 14 points and Markert tallied 11 points to go along with a game-high 8 rebounds. Paggi and senior Megan Kimmey (Troy, N,Y.) each had five assists for the Blue Knights who finished with 21 helpers on the afternoon.

Heesemann scored a team-high 16 points for the Dolphins, who shot just 34-percent from the field and 17-percent from behind the arc. Sophomore Lauren Percodani (Staten Island, N.Y.) dropped in 10 points and also dished out five assists.

At 13-1, the Blue Knights kept pace with Farmingdale, winners over Russell Sage today, for the top spot in the conference. Mount Saint Mary hosts Polytechnic on Thursday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m. and then Farmingdale on Saturday, February 16 in a game that could very well decide the regular season championship.