NEWBURGH, NY – In a very physical contest, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team held on for a 68-60 victory over Farmingdale State College in Skyline Conference action on Saturday. The Blue Knights took over sole possession of first place in the conference, improving to 5-0 in the Skyline and to 7-4 overall. The Rams fell to 7-4 overall and to 5-1 in the conference.

Mount Saint Mary led by fourteen (41-27) at the half and pushed their lead to twenty in the opening minutes of the second. Trailing 48-28, Farmingdale rattled off the next twelve points to make the score 48-40 with 13:44 to play. The lead ranged from five to ten points for the next eight minutes and then junior Catie Biordi (Beacon, N.Y.) hit perhaps the biggest shot of the afternoon, draining a three-pointer to extend the lead to nine (60-51) with just over five minutes to go.

The Rams closed the gap to four at the 2:38 mark when freshman Dominique Cunningham (Amityville, N.Y.) hit a fast break lay-up on a feed from junior Tiffara Steward (Elmont, N.Y.). Mount Saint Mary junior Meredith Paggi (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) answered with a bucket at the other end to push the lead back to six. After Farmingdale junior Kimberly Blakney (Brooklyn, N.Y.) hit one-of-two at the line, the teams traded two empty possessions. Then, Mount Saint Mary freshman Sarah Joseph (East Hampton, Conn.) hit a pair of clutch free throws to put the game out of reach (65-58) with just ninety seconds to play.

Paggi, despite shooting just 8-for-21 from the field, led the team with 23 points. She also chipped in 10 rebounds to complete a double-double. Biordi was the only other player in double figures for the Mount with 12. Junior Shannon Sangster (Syracuse, N.Y.) had 8 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Blakney led the Rams with 29 points, but connected on only 8-of-29 attempts from the field. Freshman Shemique Hooks (Westbury, N.Y.) had 19 points, but shot just 7-for-21. Blakney and Hooks combined for 50 of Farmingdale's 64 shots.

Mount Saint Mary junior Jess Tice (Altamont, N.Y.) put in a spectacular defensive effort and made things very difficult for Blakney, Farmingdale's leading scorer. While guarding Blakney in the second half, Tice limited her to just 2-of-15 from the field. Tice also had 8 points and 5 rebounds.

Farmingdale finished 19-for-64 (29.7-percent) from the field and 6-for-24 (25-percent) from the free throw line. Mount Saint Mary was 22-for-55 (40-percent) from the field and 18-for-28 (64.3-percent) from the line.

The Blue Knights will continue their Skyline Conference schedule on Wednesday, January 14 as they host St. Joseph's College. The game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and precedes the men's game at 8:00 p.m.