NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Needing a win to capture a share of the Skyline Conference regular season title, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team turned in an excellent performance and defeated Farmingdale State College, 68-43. The Knights moved to 21-4 overall (17-1 Skyline), while the Rams picked up their first loss of the season and fell to 23-1 (17-1 Skyline).

Mount Saint Mary came out firing and used three-pointers from sophomore Amanda Horvers (Kingston, N.Y.) and senior Catie Biordi (Beacon, N.Y.) to run out to a 16-6 advantage. Farmingdale crept back to within eight (20-12) at the 6:17 mark, but the Knights answered with a 10-0 run and led 30-12 with 1:16 remaining before the half. Freshman Kate Hartnett (Floral Park, N.Y.) closed out the opening twenty minutes with a putback layup to give the Knights a 32-13 cushion.

Farmingdale senior Kimberly Blakney (Brooklyn, N.Y.) brought the Rams back to within 14 in the opening minutes of the second stanza, but they would get no closer. The Knights pushed their lead to as many as 32 and eased to the 68-43 victory.

Senior Shannon Sangster (Syracuse, N.Y.) led the Mount with 16 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Biordi had a nice day as well, totaling 12 points and 8 rebounds while draining 2-of-3 attempts from three. Hartnett grabbed a game-high 12 boards to go along with her 7 points.

Blakney, the country's leading scorer, tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds. It was a tough day for the senior, though, as she shot just 5-for-21 from the field and 1-of-10 from behind the arc.

Mount Saint Mary set the tone early with their defense. The Knights limited Farmingdale to just three field goals in the first half (3-of-29, 10.3-percent), and continued the pressure in the second. The Rams finished the game shooting just 21.0-percent from the field and 10.5-percent from three.

Sangster, Biordi, and senior Chrissy Zrowka (Brick, N.J.) were honored before the game in a senior ceremony. All three players are four-year letter winners and have teamed for a four-year record of 95-17.

By virtue of the their first place tie in the Skyline Conference standings, both teams will receive byes in the opening round of the conference tournament next week. The Rams and the Knights will host semifinal games on Thursday, February 25.