Newburgh, N.Y. – Senior Jessica Rini (Seaford, N.Y.) led three players in double-figures and joined junior Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) with a double-double as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team cruised to its seventh straight victory with a 73-46 triumph over Purchase on Wednesday night.
 
Following a sluggish start, that saw the Knights and Panthers knotted at 12-12 at the end of the first period, the Mount rebounded to outscore the Panthers 21-9 in the second frame. A Jordyn Hellpap (Hackensack, N.J.) three-pointer broke the deadlock and started an 11-0 run that gave the Knights the lead for good in the game.
 
Mount Saint Mary did not allow a Purchase field goal until the 5:34 mark of the second period and finished the frame with five of the final seven points to carry a 33-21 lead into the intermission. The Mount held Purchase without a field goal over the final 2:26 of the second frame and got a three-pointer from Janae Graham (Orange, Conn.) and a pair of free-throws from Bridget Kelly (Farmington, Conn.) in the final 2:18 to stretch the halftime advantage to 12 points.
 
Mount Saint Mary converted at 31.4-percent in the first half, but its defense held the visitors to just a 25.9-percent conversions rate and forced nine turnovers. Rini led all scorers at the break with 10 points, adding eight first half rebounds.
 
Purchase climbed back to within eight points twice in the early part of the third quarter, but the Knights put together a 15-5 run to close the third period to carry a 52-34 lead into the final stanza. The Knights went 5-for-7 from the floor over the run and held Purchase to 2-for-12 shooting. Limonta led the way over the closing stretch with seven points.
 
The run extended to 17-5 on a pair of Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) free-throws early in the fourth quarter that gave the Knights a 54-34 advantage. Purchase clawed back to within 14 points twice in the final frame, but the Knights outscored the Panthers 13-2 over the final 5:08 of regulation time to claim the final 27-point advantage.
 
Mount Saint Mary improved to 53.8-percent shooting after halftime and held Purchase to a 28.1-percent effort, including a 4-for-17 mark from behind the arc. Kayla Ortiz finished the second half with five of Purchase's nine field goals after halftime.
 
Rini shot 5-for-8 in the final 20 minutes, to finish 9-for-20 for the game and reach 20 points in a contest for the fourth time this season. She closed out her sixth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds to go along with a pair of blocked shots. With her scoring output, Rini stands just 13 points shy of 1,000 in her career.
 
Hellpap reached double-figures for the second straight contest, knocking in three of the team's five three-pointers, on her way to 13 points. She added three assists and four rebounds in the win. Limonta rounded out a strong night with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, recording her fourth double-double of the season.
 
 
Freshman Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.), who was named the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday, handed out seven assists and swiped three steals, with Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) adding nine points and Graham chipping with seven tallies off the bench.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the contest shooting 41-percent overall and went 18-for-21 from the free-throw line, while Purchase was held to 27.1-percent shooting overall.
 
Wednesday's win pushes Mount Saint Mary to 13-5 overall on the season and to 10-1 in Skyline Conference action. The Knights finish off a three game home stand on January 30 when they welcome the College of Mount Saint Vincent to Newburgh. Tip-off with the Dolphins is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.