Newburgh, N.Y. – A balanced scoring attack and double-doubles from sophomore Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) and freshman Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) sparked the Mount Saint Mary Women's Basketball team to a 54-45 home conference win over Farmingdale State on Monday. Cleare led three Knights in double-figures with 13 points.
 
Mount Saint Mary fell behind only briefly in the opening minutes on Monday, using a Rini jumper and three-pointer from Kassidy Hallum (Lake Grove, N.Y.) to jump in front 7-3 with just over four minutes left in the first period.
 
The Knights would see Farmingdale State climb back to within a point on a pair of Marissa Monaco free-throws late in the first period, but buckets from Rini and Brooke Dennin (Glenham, N.Y.) gave the Knights a 13-7 lead after 10 minutes of action.
 
Mount Saint Mary maintained ta lead of at least six point throughout the second stanza and took its first double-digit lead of the game on an Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) bucket with 4:23 left before halftime. The Knights matched the 10 point lead two more times in the second period, including on a Cleare bucket with 40 seconds left in the stanza to send Mount Saint Mary into the break with a 25-15 lead.
 
Rini lead the Mount with eight points at halftime, adding seven rebounds with Cleare chipping in with three points and seven boards. The Mount Saint Mary defense held the Rams to 17.9-percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, forcing Farmingdale State into 5-for-28 shooting overall and a 1-for-7 effort from behind the arc.
 
The Knights did not allow Farmingdale State closer than seven points in the second half and gained its largest lead of the game, a 17 point bulge, when a Janae Graham (Orange, Conn.) free-throw gave the Mount a 54-37 lead with just shy of three minutes left in regulation.
 
Although the Mount was held to 30.6-percent shooting after the break, it outscored the visitors by five from the free-throw line and by four points in the paint to secure the win.
 
Cleare scored 10 points in the second half and reached double-figures for the fourth time this year with her team-high 13 points. She added 13 rebounds to pick up her third double-double of the season. Rini matched Cleare with 13 rebounds, adding 12 points on 6-for-17 shooting, to secure her third double-double of the season.
 
Freshman Megan Kerutis (Merrimack, N.H.) contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists in the win, with Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) chipping in with six points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
The Knights closed the night outscoring the Rams 26-10 in the paint and turned a 22-7 advantage in offensive rebounds into a 9-0 edge in second chance scoring on Monday.
 
Monday's win pushes Mount Saint Mary to 5-7 overall and to 3-2 in league play. The Knights will return to action on Saturday when they head to league rival Old Westbury. Tip-off with the Panthers is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

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