NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team (8-11, 3-4 Skyline) was swept in its home-and-home series against Farmingdale State College (13-8, 8-0 Skyline), as the Knights fell to the Rams, 62-49, in Skyline Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Kaplan Center.
The Knights also fell to the Rams this past Thursday in Farmingdale, 67-59. Farmingdale State continues to have a comfortable lead atop of the Skyline Conference with a perfect 8-0 record in conference matchups, while the Knights will still hold onto the final postseason spot at 3-4.
Both teams played close throughout most of the first half, but the momentum seemed to be leaning toward Farmingdale State after a jumper by Nicole Lanteri put the Rams up by eight with 5:20 left until the break. The Knights did not let it get away, getting within two in the final minutes, but Lanteri hit a big three for the final points of the half to send the Rams to the locker room with a 28-23 advantage.
The trend remained the same for the opening minutes of the second frame, as the Knights again battled to get within two. The Rams then went on a 14-5 run to extend its lead to 11 points. The lead later became 12 at 50-38 on a three by Andrea Desvignes with 5:15 to play, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Knights. They got as close as 10 points, but were unable to mount a comeback in the final minutes.
Desvignes led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed a Rams-high nine rebounds. Lanteri had a nice game as well with 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Both Desvignes and Lanteri matched with a game-high three steals.
A pair of freshman picked up double-doubles for the Knights in Saturday's defeat. Forward
Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) set a new season-high for the Knights with 17 rebounds to along with 12 points, while forward
Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) led the Knights with 15 points and grabbed 10 boards. Senior forward
Natalie Candarelli (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) also hit double-digits with 10 points.
Both teams struggled from the field on Saturday, as the Knights shot 30 percent (18-of-60) on the afternoon and the Rams made 27.4 percent (20-of-73) of their field goals. The Rams did make 10-of-27 threes (37 percent) while the Knights hit just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) for the day.
After losing some momentum in the past three days, the Knights will look to recover as they head to Riverdale, N.Y. Wednesday evening for a Skyline matchup with the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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