NEWBURGH, N.Y. – In its home opener at the Kaplan Center, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team (1-2) picked up its first victory of the 2014-15 campaign, defeating Hunter College (1-2), 59-54, in non-conference action Tuesday evening.
Sophomore guard
Marisa Delzio (Brewster, N.Y.), playing in her first game at the Kaplan Center, had a big game for the Knights, leading the team with 17 points, four assists and three steals. She also added three rebounds in her 34 minutes on the court. Two other Knights reached double digits on Tuesday, as senior guard
Lauren Romao (Brick, N.J.) and senior forward
Natalie Candarelli (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior guard
Nicole Scicutella (Massapequa, N.Y.) kept her team lead with a team-best seven rebounds on the evening to go along with six points.
The Knights played their best half of the early season to open Tuesday's game. The Knights trailed by three at 21-18 with 6:43 left to play before the break. An 11-0 run by the Knights put them up, 29-21, before Ashley Yu would end the run and cut the Knight lead back to six. The Knights closed out the first half on a 5-0 run to take a 34-23 lead into the locker room.
The Hawks came out flying in the early minutes of the second frame, scoring the first six points to get back within five. They got as close as three in the first five minutes before the Knights extended their lead back to 44-35. A 10-1 stretch for the Hawks tied the game with the clock reading 6:01. The score was tied once again at 49-49 with just under three minutes to play after Hunter erased another four-point Knight lead.
Candarelli broke the tie by hitting the front end of a pair of free throws. Senior guard
Audrey Pooley (Middletown, N.Y.) picked up a huge steal and scored on the ensuing fast break to put the Knights up, 52-49, with 1:44 to go. Ayanna Hudson got the Hawks back within one with a layup on their next possession. After a timeout, the Knights ran 30 seconds off the clock before Scicutella drained a clutch three to push the Knight lead to four.
After a Knight turnover, Kristen Markoe sank a jumper to cut the deficit to two. The Knights turned the ball over again, and then Markoe came up short on a jumper, which Candarelli pulled down and held onto as she was fouled. She made both of her free throws to extend the lead to four once again. Joey Chan later went to the line for the Hawks, but made only the back end of her two foul shots to get Hunter back within three. Delzio was fouled on the next possession, and made both of her free throws with under a second to play to ice the game for the Knights.
Hudson turned in an impressive effort for the Hawks with 18 points and 18 boards for a double-double. Markoe also earned a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
The Knights narrowly edged their guests with 32.1 percent (18-of-56) shooting compared to 30.3 percent (20-of-66) for Hunter. The drained a solid 44.4 percent (8-of-18) of their three-pointers, while the Hawks were good on just 13 percent (3-of-23) of their long balls. The Hawks held a significant advantage under the glass, outrebounding the Knights, 58-37.
The Knights will look to generate a winning streak when they next play on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Kaplan Center. They host Manhattanville College in non-conference action. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
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@MSMCKnights
