Kings Point, N.Y. - The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team took down the defending Skyline Conference champions in a rematch of the 2019 Skyline Conference Championship final as the Knights defeated the United States Merchant Marine Academy 64-52 on the road on Thursday evening. Sophomore Annie Keenan (Nesconset, N.Y.) recorded her third double-double of the season and matched her career-high in points with 22.

The Mariners got off to a hot start on Thursday as Lauren Hunter and Taylor Hightower combined to score the first six points of the contest. A made free throw from junior Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) ended the early 6-0 spurt before USMMA pushed its lead to six points on a Madison Demos layup with 4:45 remaining in the first quarter.

The Knights responded to tie the game at 11 with 3:09 to go following a Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) lay-in and a Keenan triple. USMMA scored the final three points of the first period to give the Mariners a 14-11 lead following the first quarter.

Merchant Marine once again scored the first six points of the second quarter as the Mariners took its biggest lead of the contest at nine points following layups from Hightower and Demos. Following a Kaleigh D'Arcy bucket with 6:17 remaining in the quarter to put the USMMA lead back to nine, the Knights closed the quarter on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 24 heading into the halftime intermission.

Bojka tallied 10 points before the half as Keenan added six points and seven rebounds for Mount Saint Mary. Senior Lyndsay Pace (Cranford, N.J.) also added six points as the Knights shot 37.0 percent in the first half and made three threes. Hunter led the Mariners with nine points and five rebounds along with Hightower adding seven points. USMMA shot just 28.9-percent in the first 20 minutes and failed to make a three-pointer.

The Knights took its first lead of the contest in the third quarter on Pace lay-in with 9:02 left in the quarter. Mount Saint Mary garnered a five point lead following a Desrats triple with 7:54 remaining before the Mariners went on a 6-0 run and took its final lead of the contest with 4:28 remaining. The Knights took a 41-38 lead into the final quarter following two Bojka free throws with seven seconds remaining.

Following a back and forth beginning of the fourth quarter, the Knights lead was cut to two points on a Kiana Vega layup with 5:41 to go in the final period. Mount Saint Mary responded with a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to push the lead to a game-high 12 points on two three-pointers from Keenan and two buckets from Pace.

Over the final three minutes, the Knights lead never fell below nine points as the Mount avenged last season's conference championship loss with a 12 point victory over the Mariners. Keenan finished the second half with 16 points and five rebounds as the Mount shot a blistering 58.3 percent from the field and made five threes in the second half. USMMA was held to 37.5 percent and made just two threes in the final 20 minutes.

Keenan finished the night with 22 points and 12 rebounds on 8 for 12 shooting from the field and 5 for 7 from bonus distance while adding five assists. Bojka continued her strong junior campaign with 16 points on 6-13 shooting and six rebounds. Pace chipped in 14 points while Desrats added 10 points and two three-point field goals.

D'Arcy led the Mariners with 17 points, nine rebounds and five steals while Hightower added 11 points, eight rebounds, eight steals and four assists. USMMA shot 32.3 percent on the game while making only two threes and shot 52.6 percent from the free throw line.

Mount Saint Mary shot 47.1 percent on the contest and made eight threes while shooting just 53.3 percent from the free throw stripe. Both teams struggled with turnovers as the Knights turned it over 25 times and Merchant Marine turned it over 22 times. 

Both teams scored 30 points in the paint on the evening as the Mount scored 22 points off turnovers while the Mariners converted 16 points off turnovers. USMMA scored nine second chance points while Mount Saint Mary converted just three second chance points.

Thursday's win moves the Knights to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Skyline Conference. Next up for Mount Saint Mary is a home conference tilt with Purchase on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off with the Panthers at the Kaplan Center is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.