FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Despite a strong effort down the stretch, the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team (8-10, 3-3 Skyline) was unable to unseat first-place Farmingdale State College (12-8, 7-0 Skyline), falling 67-59 in Skyline Conference action Thursday evening in Farmingdale.
The Knights fell behind early, trailing 18-8 by the 12:15 mark in the first half. Despite the deficit, the Knights never allowed the game to get out of reach, hanging tight with the Rams to trail by just six at 27-21 going into halftime.
Five straight points by the Rams pushed the home team out to an 11-point advantage in the opening minute of the second frame. The Knights then followed with a seven-point stretch to cut the deficit down to six. The Knights faced their largest deficit at 12 points with 4:38 to play, but locked down the Rams over the next two minutes to mount a comeback.
The Knights held their hosts to just two points over that stretch, and scored 10 points themselves to get within four at 57-53. Andrea Desvignes hit a layup for the Rams to push their lead back to six, but junior guard
Nicole Scicutella (Massapequa, N.Y.) nailed a triple to keep the Knights within three. Farmingdale then scored four points on back-to-back possessions to push its lead to seven with just 46 seconds left. Scicutella made another three to cut it down to four points, but the Knights were forced to foul with little time remaining, and Nicole Lanteri made all four free throws to secure the win for the home team.
Lanteri led the Rams with 21 points, while Desvignes followed with 18. Lanteri also dished a game-high five assists. Nailah Cherry led all players with 12 points, while Marlaina Sherman and Jeanette Spillane each grabbed 10.
Senior forward
Natalie Candarelli (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) just missed a double-double, totaling 18 points and nine boards. Scicutella made five threes to provide 15 points off the bench.
Farmingdale State narrowly edged the Knights from the field, shooting 34.7 percent (25-of-72) while MSMC made 23-of-70 (32.9 percent). The Rams grabbed 53 rebounds, and the Knights pulled down just 41.
The Knights and Rams square off again on Saturday, Feb. 7, this time at the Kaplan Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday is also Super Fan Day, where the first 50 fans to the women's game will receive a Knight Pride t-shirt and free food will be offered to all students.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights
