Newburgh, N.Y. – Senior Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) led three players in double-figures with 14 points and Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) recorded her second double-double of the season as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team ended a three game losing streak with a 70-37 Skyline Conference win over visiting St. Joseph's-L.I. on Tuesday.
 
The Knights never trailed in the game and opened the contest up early with an 11-0 run to open play. Rini scored four of the team's first 11 points as the Mount went 5-for-8 from the floor over the opening 4:34 of the first period. The Mount did not allow a field goal until the midway mark of the first period and opened a 23-4 lead on a Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) bucket with 2:01 left in the frame.
 
Mount Saint Mary saw the visitors climb back to within 12 points twice early in the second stanza, but used a 12-2 spurt capped by a Cleare bucket with 4:48 left before halftime to open a 37-15 advantage. The Knights did not allow St. Joseph's closer than 17 points the rest of the night and carried a 41-20 lead into the intermission following a Rini lay-in with 1:17 left in the second frame.
 
The Mount held St. Joseph's to 24.1-percent shooting before halftime and converted at 48.5-percent in the first 20 minutes to build the 21-point halftime lead. Rini and Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) led the scoring attack with 10 first half point apiece.
 
The Mount built its lead to 53-27 after three quarters following a pair of Bojka free-throws and opened its largest lead of the game, a 35 point bulge, twice in the final 2:06. Kassidy Hallum (Lake Grove, N.Y.) hit a three-pointer to push the Knights in front 66-31 and Bojka converted a lay-in with 1:33 left to push the lead back to 35 points at 68-33.
 
After shooting 31.7-percent in the second half, the Mount finished the game converting at 39.2-percent and went 3-for-15 from three-point range. The Mount hauled in 26 offensive rebounds, scoring 14 second chance points, and tallied 19 points off of 18 St. Joseph's turnovers.
 
Rini finished the contest 7-for-13 from the floor on her way to a season-high point total and added eight rebounds and a pair of assists. Cleare tallied 12 points and hauled in 14 rebounds to go along with two blocks and four assists, matching her career-high for helpers. Limonta continued her strong early season play with 12 points off the bench, five rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) and Lyndsay Pace (Cranford, N.J.) each handed out three assists in the win, while Bojka finished off a solid night with six points, five rebounds and a trio of steals.
 
At 2-3 overall on the season and 1-0 in Skyline Conference play, the Knights will look for their second straight win on Thursday when they travel to Purchase. Tip-off with the Panthers is now scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (time change from 6:00 p.m.).