New Paltz, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team suffered its second consecutive loss on Thursday night, losing a 69-45 contest against the New Paltz Hawks. Sophomore Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) led the way with 13 points on the night.

Following a back and forth first five minutes of the first quarter, Mount Saint Mary took a 10-9 lead on Annie Keenan's (Nesconset, N.Y.) triple. Keenan finished with six points in the quarter. New Paltz then ripped off a 9-0 run to end the quarter behind five points from Marion Dietz.

Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) converted an old-fashioned three-point play to start the second period to end the 9-0 run. New Paltz continued to open up their lead in the quarter, ending the second period on 8-2 run to give them a 37-21 lead at the half.

The lead continued in double digits for the Hawks as it grew to 21 points following a Dietz conversion with 1:39 remaining in the third stanza. The Mount finished the quarter on a 7-0 behind Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) and Keenan's three-pointers to cut the lead to 14 heading into the final quarter. The Knights outscored New Paltz 16-14 in the period.

Mount Saint Mary continued their run into the fourth quarter as Toriana Tabasco (Hillsdale, N.Y.) and Smith rattled off five points in the first two minutes to cut the lead to single digits. The run ended at 12-0 for the Knights as New Paltz finished the game on an 18-3 run to win by 24 points.

Smith was 6-for-10 from the field on the night en route to her team-high 13 points as Keenan knocked down three triples and finished the night with 11 points, seven rebounds and a team-high three assists. Bojka added 10 points and nine rebounds, just short of a double-double.

Dietz finished the night with a game-high 25 points for the Hawks. She added five rebounds and four steals while Rachel Simon and Lindsay Bettke chipped in 14 points apiece. Bettke had a game-high five assists and Philesha Teape ripped down nine boards for New Paltz.

New Paltz outshot Mount Saint Mary 38.8-percent to 31.4-percent and knocked down four more threes than the Knights. The Hawks won the points off turnovers battle 16-14 and dominated second chance points 16-5. New Paltz also outscored the Mount 30-12 in the paint and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds on the night.

The loss pushes Mount Saint Mary to 8-4 overall as they return to Skyline action when they travel to Farmingdale State on Saturday. Tip-off against the Rams is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.