Newburgh, N.Y. – Led by Kayla Cleare's (West Hempstead, N.Y.) seventh double-double of the season, the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team pulled away from Purchase for a 68-49 win on Wednesday night. Cleare rounded out the game leading all players in the game with 23 points and 18 rebounds.
 
Following a sluggish first period that saw the Mount trail 20-10 after 10 minutes of play, the Knights allowed just 29 more points over the final three quarters on Wednesday. The Mount was outscored 10-2 in the paint in the opening 10 minutes and would not take its first lead of the game until a Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) bucket with 1:40 left in the second stanza. Rini would score the final four points of the period for the Mount, who took a 29-26 lead into halftime.
 
Mount Saint Mary was held to 26.7-percent shooting over the first two quarters on Wednesday and went just 2-for-6 from three-point range. The Knights outscored Purchase 11-5 from the free-throw line in the first half and were paced by seven points from sophomore Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.).
 
The Knights would methodically stretch their lead in the third quarter and pulled in front by double-figures for the first time on a Megan Kerutis (Merrimack, N.H.) three-pointer with 1:20 left in the third quarter. A second triple from Kerutis would push Mount Saint Mary in front 46-33 with 44 ticks left in the frame.
 
Following the Kerutis triples, Mount Saint Mary would maintain a double-figure lead the remainder of the game and gained a game-high 24 points lead on a Kassidy Hallum (Lake Grove, N.Y.) free-throw with 1:46 left in the game.
 
After struggling in the first half on Wednesday, Mount Saint Mary rebounded to outscore Purchase in the paint 20-4 and in second chance scoring 14-5 after the break. Cleare scored 17 of her game-high 23 in the second half, posting a double-double with 13 rebounds in the second half alone.
 
Cleare closed the night 8-for-15 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line as she matched the team lead in double-doubles. She is averaging 15.1 rebounds per game over her last eight games and stands 56 caroms shy of the single season record at Mount Saint Mary.
 
Kelly finished the night with 11 points and collected seven rebounds with Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) also adding seven boards. Rini finished off the game with eight points and nine rebounds with Kerutis finishing up with nine points and four assists.
 
The Knights shot 31-percent from the floor in the game and held a 19-5 edge in made free-throws on the night. The Mount secured 29 offensive rebounds on Wednesday and outscored Purchase 23-9 in second chance opportunities.
 
Wednesday win pushes Mount Saint Mary to the .500 mark at 12-12 on the season and improves its league record to 9-6. The Knights will close out the regular season on Saturday when they head to St. Joseph's-L.I. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.

Follow the Knights on Twitter@MSMCKnights and Follow on Flickr