Middlebury, Vt. - The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team could not stave off a furious Middlebury fourth quarter comeback as the Knights dropped its second straight contest 58-47 on the road on Tuesday afternoon. Junior Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) led the way with a game-high 16 points and sophomore Toriana Tabasco (Hillsdale, N.J.) registered her first career double-double.

The Knights got off to a strong start on New Years' Eve as Bojka tallied the first five points of the game, pushing the Knights to an early 7-2 lead following a lay-in by senior Lyndsay Pace (Cranford, N.J.). The Panthers drew the game tied at 10 with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter on a layup by Betsy Knox. A free throw by Tabasco and another bucket from Bojka gave the Mount a 13-10 lead after the first quarter. 

Pace and Bojka combined for 12 of the 13 points scored in the quarter for the Knights as Knox and Kira Waldman paced the Panthers with four points apiece. Middlebury scored the first five points of the second quarter as a lay-in by Kamryn You Mak gave the Panthers its first lead at 15-13. Mount Saint Mary countered with the next five points and regained the lead on a Pace three-pointer. 

Following a Knox bucket with 5:42 remaining in the second period to give the Panthers a two-point lead, the Knights scored the final nine points of the quarter to hold a seven point lead heading into the halftime intermission. Bojka finished the first half with 11 points while Pace and Tabasco each added eight points. Tabasco grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in the half, including four offensive rebounds. Knox led the way with six points and nine rebounds at the intermission.

Mount Saint Mary took its largest lead of the contest on an Annie Keenan (Nesconset, N.Y.) layup with 5:32 remaining in the third quarter at 34-22. The Panthers quickly cut the lead to seven points on a three from Alyna Baharozian and a bucket from Knox. A Bojka jumper with eight seconds left in the quarter pushed the Mount lead back to eight points after three quarters. 

The Panthers quickly cut the lead to just one point as Middlebury outscored the Knights 8-1 over the first three and a half minutes of the final quarter. After a Bojka three-pointer with 6:29 left in the quarter, the Mount was outscored 18-3 over the final six minutes as the Panthers allowed only two made field goals in the entire fourth quarter.

Mount Saint Mary was held to 2-for-16 shooting in the final quarter as Middlebury shot 50.0-percent from the field in the quarter. The Panthers were also 9-for-12 from the free throw line in the fourth period. Bojka finished the contest with 16 points on 7-for-18 from the field, grabbed four rebounds and swiped three steals. Tabasco secured her first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds, while Pace added eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

Knox finished with a double-double of her own for Middlebury as she scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. Waldman added 13 points while Maya Davis added nine points and seven rebounds. Baharozian registered 14 points off bench and chipped in seven rebounds on the day.

The Mount was limited to 31.3-percent from the field and shot 7-for-38 from behind the three-point line on the day while the Panthers shot 37.3-percent and were 6-for-14 from three. The Knights were outscored by 12 from the free-throw line and were outscored 13-5 in second chance points.

Tuesday's loss moves the Mount to 6-3 overall on the season. Next up for the Knights is a home non-conference clash with Sage on Thursday evening. Tip-off with the Gators at the Kaplan Center is set for 6:00 p.m.