Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team suffered its third straight loss on Tuesday evening, falling on the road at Vassar by a score of 52-43. Juniors Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) and Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) led the scoring attack with nine points apiece.
 
After falling behind by four points in the early going, the Mount jumped in front 7-6 on a Jordyn Hellpap (Hackensack, N.J.) triple at the 5:58 mark of the opening stanza. The three-pointer was the Mount's last field goal until a Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) jumper cut the Mount's deficit to 11-9 with just over two minutes left in the quarter. The Rini bucket was part of a 7-0 run to close the opening period, capped off by a three-point play from Limonta that gave the Knights a 14-11 lead after 10 minutes of action.
 
Vassar regained the lead with a quick four-point spurt to begin the second quarter and after a Cleare layup that pushed the Knights back in front 16-15, scored the next six points to move in front 21-16. Erin McCauley (Levittown, N.Y.) canned a triple with 1:20 left before halftime to get the Knights to within 21-19, but the Brewers used a 4-0 run to close the half to carry a 25-19 advantage into the intermission.
 
The Knights finished the first half shooting 27.6-percent from the floor and 2-for-7 from distance, while Vassar finished the first 20 minutes converting at 41.4-percent. Ariella Rosenthal led all players at the break for Vassar with seven points.
 
Vassar came out of the break and moved its lead to 11 points on an Isa Peczuh triple and did not let the Knights closer than seven points the remainder of the frame. The Mount's final field goal of the third quarter came with 2:33 left as part of a three-point play from Cleare that got the Mount to within 34-26.
 
After Vassar jumped in front by a game-high 14 points on a Rosenthal triple with 8:38 left in regulation, the Mount made a final charge get back to within four points. A Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) lay-in with 4:28 left to play started a 6-0 spurt to bring the Knights to within 43-39 with 3:36 left. The Mount go to within four again on a Limonta conversion with 2:24 remaining, but Vassar got back-to-back jumpers to spread the lead back to eight and three free-throws in the final half minute to hold off the Knights.
 
Limonta finished the game 4-for-5 from the floor, while Cleare finished up 3-for-9 from the field and led the team with eight rebounds. Lyndsay Pace (Cranford, N.J.) led the Mount with four assists, with Rini and Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) each collecting a pair of steals.
 
Rosenthal led all scorers with 17 points for Vassar, adding eight rebounds and four assists. Peczuh chipped in with 11 points with Julia Roellka hauling in a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
Mount Saint Mary closed the night shooting 31-percent overall and went 2-for-12 from three-point range. Vassar finished at 42.6-percent overall, converting five more field goals than the Knights, and hit three triples.
 
Tuesday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 1-3 overall on the season. The Knights begin Skyline Conference play on November 28 when they play host to St. Joseph's-L.I. Tip-off with the Golden Eagles is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.