Alfred, N.Y. – Freshman Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) scored 17 points in her collegiate debut and was one of five Mount Saint Mary players to reach double-figures as the Knights opened the 2015-16 season with an impressive 86-60 road win at Alfred on Saturday afternoon.
 
After falling behind 22-14 after the first quarter on Saturday, the Knights outscored the Saxons 22-6 in the second period to carry a 36-28 lead into the intermission. Mount Saint Mary knotted the score at 26-26 on a Cleare conversion with 4:52 left in the quarter as part of a 15-2 run over the final 7:02 of the quarter that pushed the Knights in front for good in the game.
 
The Knights shot 39.5-percent over the opening 20 minutes of the season, knocking in a pair of three-point field goals prior to the intermission. Janae Graham (Orange, Conn.) paced the Knights with eight points at the break and the Mount Saint Mary defense held Alfred to 33.3-percent shooting.
 
The Knights spread their lead to double-figures early in the third quarter on a Megan Kerutis (Merrimack, N.H.) bucket and jumped in front by 20 points on a Kerutis free-throw with just under five minutes left in the third stanza. Mount Saint Mary never let Alfred back into the game and spread its lead to a game-high 29 points twice in the final six minutes of regulation time.
 
After the first quarter, Mount Saint Mary scored at least 22 points in each of the final three periods, including 25 each in both the third and four periods. The Knights shot a red-hot 52.6-percent from the floor after halftime, receiving 13 second half points from Kerutis on the strength of 7-for-9 shooting from the free-throw line and 11 second half tallies from Cleare on 5-for-6 shooting from the floor.
 
Cleare finished the game 8-for-9 from the field on her way to a team-high 17 points in her debut. She rounded out a strong day with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks for the Knights. Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds for Mount Saint Mary.
 
Kerutis and freshman Kassidy Hallum (Lake Grove, N.Y.) each scored 13 points in their first career game for Mount Saint Mary, with Kerutis adding three steals and Hallum securing eight rebounds in the game. Graham rounded out the day with 10 points and a team-high five assists, while Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) finished off the game with six points and a team-high nine rebounds.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the day shooting 46.1-percent from the floor in the game, scoring 54 points in the paint and 26 points off of 17 Alfred turnovers. The Knights also used a convincing 22-10 edge on the offensive glass to produce 27 second chance points in the game.
 
Alfred was led by a game-high 22 points from Chanice Battle who went 10-for-17 from the floor and Sarah Kichman chipped in with 12 points for the Saxons.
 
Saturday's win moves Mount Saint Mary to 1-0 overall on the season. Next up for the Knights is a road non-conference game at Hunter on November 17. Tip-off with the Hawks is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

Follow the Knights on Twitter@MSMCKnights