Newburgh, N.Y. - The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team completed the conference schedule unbeaten as they defeated United States Merchant Marine Academy 57-56 in a thrilling contest. The victory solidified the top seed in the Skyline Conference tournament for the Knights as they will have home-court advantage throughout the conference tournament.

After the Mariners began the contest with a 7-4 lead, senior Kassidy Hallum (Lake Grove, N.Y.) buried a triple on Senior Day to tie the contest at seven apiece. Her three-pointer spured a 16-3 run to finish the first quarter. Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) knocked down back to back threes and seniors Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) and Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) combined for 10 points in the first period.

A Limonta free throw early in the second quarter pushed the Knights lead to a game-high 13 points before the Mariners cut the lead to seven after a Taylor Hightower layup. Cleare responded with four straight points before Lyndsay Pace (Cranford, N.Y.) laid one in off a beautiful feed from Toriana Tabasco (Hillsdale, N.J.) to give the Mount a 10 point advantage heading into the half.

Cleare lead a balanced scoring attack with eight points in the first half, Limonta had seven and Desrats had six. The Knights shot 46.4-percent as a team in the half and limited Merchant Marine to 32.1-percent from the field.

Merchant Marine stormed out with a 9-0 run to start the quarter to cut the Knights lead to one before Limonta converted a layup on an assist from Desrats. Lauren Hunter converted an three-point play for the Mariners to tie the game at 34. A quick 7-0 run after the three-point play pushed the lead back to seven behind a Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) triple and a layup from Pace and Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.). Hunter responded with five straight points to close the quarter to cut the deficit to two.

The Mount began the quarter on a 10-2 run to push the lead to 10 points, the highest in the second half, after five points apiece from Pace and Cleare. Seven straight points from the Mariners in the following two minutes once again shrunk the lead to three. After Limonta converted three straight points, Julia Dahlke knocked down a three with 44 seconds remaining in the contest.

Following a Knights turnover with 13 seconds remaining, Dahlke banked in a straightaway three to tied the game at 56 with three seconds to go. On the ensuing Mount possession, Cleare was fouled with 0.6 on the clock and knocked down one of two free throws to clinch the Knights unbeaten conference record.

Pace scored a team-high seven points in the second half and Limonta ripped down 10 rebounds in the half as the Knights cooled to 31.3-percent from the field in the second half.

Limonta finished the contest with a double-double, scoring 12 points and securing 14 rebounds. Cleare added 14 points and eight boards while Pace chipped in 11 points, four rebounds and a team-high three steals. Smith finished with seven points and a team-high three assists.

Hunter secured a double-double for the Mariners as she scored a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds. Shelby Peters also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards while Dahlke knocked down four triples for Merchant Marine.

The Knights finished the game shooting 38.3-percent as a team and made four threes. Merchant Marine finished 39.0-percent from the field and converted five triples as both teams struggled from the free throw line in the contest, shooting a combined 12-for-28.

The Mount finished with a slim 17-16 advantage in points off turnovers and both teams had 16 second chance points. The Knights held the edge in points in the paint at 32-26 and converted 12 fast break points. Mount Saint Mary grabbed 18 offensive rebounds while the Mariners grabbed 13.

With the victory, the Mount concludes the season at 21-4 overall and a perfect 18-0 in Skyline Conference Play. Next up for the Knights will be a home Skyline Conference semifinal contest on Thursday evening against an opponent TBD. The full bracket and matchups in the Skyline Conference tournament will be announced when they become available.