Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team closes out the 2016-17 regular season on Saturday afternoon with a road conference tilt at St. Joseph's-Brooklyn. Live Stats and Video are available for the 2:00 p.m. tip-off with the Bears.
 
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary enters Saturday's contest winners of six of its last seven contests and at 18-5 overall and 15-3 against conference rivals. The Knights held off the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Tuesday for a 55-48 home win in which it was outscored by 20 points after halftime.
 
Sophomore Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) produced a double-double for the Knights with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) finished up with 11 points, nine boards, two steals and a pair of blocks. The duo combined to go 8-for-16 from the floor and 7-for-11 from the free-throw line in the win.
 
Rini leads the team in scoring heading into Saturday's tilt, posting 11.5 points per contest, while Cleare is good for nearly a double-double per game with 10.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Cleare is shooting nearly 49-percent from the floor on the season and paces the team in blocked shots with 30.
 
Freshman Jordyn Hellpap (Hackensack, N.J.) has converted a team-high 32 three-point field goals on the season to go along with 31 steals with Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) swiping a team best 37 steals while averaging 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game off the bench. Sophomore Maite Gritsko (Milford, Conn.) has assisted on 46 buckets and is averaging 2.0 helpers per contest for the Knights.
 
The Knights enter the weekend ranked second in the Skyline Conference in field goal percentage (40.1), field goal percentage defense (29.7), rebounding margin (12.5) and score margin (14.) and sits atop the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 47.6 points per game.
 
A Look At The Bears: St. Joseph's-Brooklyn has won three of its last five contests and stands at 9-15 overall and 7-10 in conference play, tied for the final conference championship berth. The Bears downed St. Joseph's-L.I. 87-76 on Thursday with Destiny Marino pouring in 27 points on the strength of 9-for-18 shooting. She was one of three players in double-figures with Victoria Porcasi netting 24 points and Lauren Quesada chipping in 19.
 
Marino leads a trio of Bears scoring in double-figures on the season, netting just over 17 points per outing to go along with 2.5 assists and nearly two steals per contest. Porcasi is good for 15.2 points per game, while Quesada is scoring 10.5 points per game and is hauling in a team best 7.9 rebounds per night. Kristen Candelaria has swatted a team-high 27 shots and is averaging 1.2 blocks per game for St. Joseph's.
 
St. Joseph's enters the weekend fourth in the Skyline Conference in scoring (65.5), but sits ninth in scoring defense (72.8).
 
Last Meeting: The two teams met at the Kaplan Center on January 17 with the Knights coming away with a 76-47 victory. Rini and Megan Kerutis (Merrimack, N.H.) combined for 30 points, while Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) came off the bench to contribute 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot nearly 45-percent from the floor in the game and went 5-for-12 from three-point range. The Bears were held to 26.8-percent shooting with the Mount holding a 30-12 edge in paint points and a 23-8 advantage in second chance scoring.
 
What's Next: The Knights will begin the Skyline Conference Championship next week with day, time and opponent to be announced.