Old Westbury, N.Y. – Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) led a trio of double-digit scorers and poured in a career-high 21 points as the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team won their third straight game on Thursday night, defeating Old Westbury 69-61 in a back and forth contest.

The Knights came out red hot as they jumped out to a 10-2 lead following five points apiece from Smith and Maite Gritsko (Milford, Conn.). They also finished the quarter on a 5-0 run behind three points from Toriana Tabasco (Hillsdale, N.J.) and two points from Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.), giving the Knights an 18-8 advantage after the first quarter.

The Panthers responded with an 8-0 run to begin the second quarter after two threes from Alexis Lopez. Old Westbury finished the quarter with a three-point lead as they doubled up the Knights 26-13 in the period.

Mount Saint Mary finished the half shooting 35.7-percent while Old Westbury shot 38.2-percent from the field. The Panthers knocked down one more three-pointer but the Knights finished with four more free throws made in the first half.

Old Westbury's lead grew to a game-high seven points after a Monique Joseph layup with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter. The Mount finished the quarter on a 9-2 run following five points from Smith and four points from Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) to tie the game at 49 heading into the final stanza.

Following a Lopez three-pointer to put the Panthers up two points with 7:41 to go in the quarter, the Knights ripped off an 8-0 run which was concluded by two Cleare free throws. A Tori Bellings three cut the lead to three points with 48 seconds remaining in the contest but Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.), Smith and Gritsko knocked down five free throws to put the game away for the Mount.

The Knights finished the second half outshooting the Panthers 39.3-percent to 28.1-percent. Old Westbury buried four more three-pointers than the Knights but the Mount knocked down 11 more free throws in the half.

Smith's career high came on 8-for-10 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 from three and a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw stripe. She also chipped in a team-high four assists. Bojka finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists on the night. Gritsko added eight points and five boards while Tabasco chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.

Cleare added a double-double on 11 points and 10 rebounds. She is six points from 1,000 in her career and three rebounds away from tying the Mount Saint Mary career rebounds record. Cleare also had a game-high four blocks.

Bellings led the Panthers with 15 points and a game-high seven assists. Lopez had 12 points and Joseph added 10 points and nine boards.

The Knights finished the night shooting 37.5-percent from the field compared to Old Westbury's 33.3-percent. The Panthers buried five more threes but the Knights finished 15 more free throws. The Mount held the edge in points off turnovers at 18-13 as well as second chance points at 19-15.

With the victory, Mount Saint Mary improves to 11-4 overall and 8-0 in conference. Next up, the Mount travels to the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday  afternnon for a 12:00 p.m. tip-off with the Mariners.