Newburgh, N.Y. – Led by a career-high 13 points from sophomore Lyndsay Pace (Cranford, N.J.) and a double-double from junior Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.), the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team opened the 2017-18 season in impressive fashion with a 77-31 home win over visiting Bard.
 
The Knights ran out to an early 22-0 lead after holding Bard off the board in the first quarter. The Knights did not allow a Bard field goal until the 9:02 mark of the second frame on their way to a 42-10 lead at the half.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot an even 50-precent from the floor before halftime without making a three-point field goal and was led by eight points each from Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.), Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) and Pace. Cleare led the team at the break with eight rebounds, including three on the offensive end.
 
The Knights picked up where they left off in the third period, outscoring Bard 18-4. The Mount's first three-pointer came with 8:23 left in the period when Jordyn Hellpap (Hackensack, N.J.) connected from distance. The Mount allowed just one field goal in the quarter, running out to a 60-14 lead after 30 minutes.
 
The two teams each scored 17 points in the fourth frame, but the Knights built its largest lead of the game with just over two minutes left to play. Freshman Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) converted a lay-up to push the Mount in front 75-23 with 2:11 left.
 
The Mount shot just under 46-percent in the second half on Wednesday, hitting all three of its triples after the break. Bojka led the Knights with eight second half points, going 4-for-6 from the floor.
 
Pace finished the night 6-for-10 from the floor with a three-pointer to go along with three steals. Bojka poured in 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting in her collegiate debut, adding four rebounds and three steals, with Cleare leading all players with 12 rebounds and chipping in 12 points and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Freshman Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) led the Mount with three assists in the game to go along with four points with Rini finishing up with eight points and six rebounds.
 
Bard was led by 10 points from Katie Esposito and got five rebounds apiece from Elena LeFevre, Erin Kennedy and Sarah Morris.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 47.9-percent from the floor and held Bard to a 21.7-percent effort. The Knights dominated in the paint 56-6 and in transition 12-0. The Knights turned 17 offensive rebounds into 22 second chance points and scored 32 points off of 29 Bard turnovers.
 
At 1-0 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to action on Saturday against Ave Marie as part of the Emerson Tip-Off Tournament. Tip-off in Boston, Mass. Is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.