Newburgh, N.Y. – Mount Saint Mary College freshman Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) led the Knights with 16 points and 14 rebounds on Tuesday night, but it was not enough in a tough 71-66 Skyline Conference Women's Basketball loss to visiting Old Westbury.
 
Mount Saint Mary fell behind 8-0 and did not get a field goal until the 6:48 mark of the first quarter when Janae Graham (Orange, Conn.) canned a three-point field goal to get the Knights to within 8-3 early in the opening period.
 
The Knights would get to within a point twice in the last 2:15 of the opening period, but could not pull in front of the visitors until late in the second stanza. After falling behind by as many as six points in the second period, the Knights took their first lead of the game when Graham hit a jumper with 36 seconds left before halftime to send the Mount into the intermission with a slim 28-27 lead.
 
Both team shot below 40-percent over the first 20 minutes of action. Both squads converted 11 field goals prior to halftime, with Mount Saint Mary outscoring Old Westbury by three from the free-throw line. Graham and Old Westbury's Raven Pentz led all players with nine first half points.
 
The Panthers quickly regained the lead in the opening possession of the third quarter on a Jasmine Robinson conversion and later moved in front 37-30 on a Robinson fast break bucket with 7:12 left in the third period.
 
Mount Saint Mary would battle back to tie the score at 41-41 following an 11-4 run, but would head into the final 10 minutes of regulation down by two points following a pair of free-throws from Jasley Mejia. Mount Saint Mary went just 2-for-11 from the floor over the equalizing run, but converted seven free-throws and forced four Old Westbury free-throws.
 
After combing for 84 points over the first three periods, Old Westbury and Mount Saint Mary combined for 53 points in the final 10 minutes of play. The Knights battled back to jump in front 51-50 on a Cleare bucket midway through the fourth stanza, but saw the visitors score eight of the next 10 points to jump in front for good in the game.
 
After falling behind by eight points late in the period, the Mount would get to within three points on a Megan Kerutis (Merrimack, N.H.) three-pointer. That would be as close as the Knights would get, as Pentz knocked in a pair of free-throws with six seconds left to close the win.
 
Both teams made 12 field goals in the second half, including a pair of three-pointers each, but Old Westbury made six more free-throws that the Knights, who shot 52.2-percent from the stripe after halftime. Cleare scored 13 points after the break for the Knights and Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) chipped in with 10 second half points for the Mount.
 
Cleare scored in double-figures for the third time this season and grabbed double-figures rebounds for the fifth time in the last six games on her way to equaling the team lead with two double-doubles. She went 6-for-13 from the floor in the game and swiped three steals.
 
Kelly added 14 points and five rebounds for the Knights with Graham contributing 13 points and five rebounds for Mount Saint Mary. Kassidy Hallum (Lake Grove, N.Y.) added nine points and Kerutis paced the team with four assists.
 
Old Westbury was led by a game-high 24 points from Robinson who finished off the game with eight steals. Pentz closed the night with 14 points and six assists, while Crystal Barnes led the way with eight rebounds.
 
Overall for the game, Mount Saint Mary shot 35.9-percent from the floor, but went just 3-for-12 from behind the arc and 17-for-29 from the free-throw line. Old Westbury converted at a 39.7-percent clip, making five triples and 20 free-throws.
 
Tuesday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 4-6 overall and to 2-2 in conference play. The Knights will step outside of the conference on Thursday when they welcome Bard to Newburgh. Tip-off with the Raptors is set for 7:00 p.m.

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