Newburgh, N.Y. – The top-seeded Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team is set to host the fifth seeded Purchase Panthers on Thursday in the Semifinal Round of the 2018 Skyline Conference Championship. Live stats and Video will be available for those who cannot attend the 7:00 p.m. tip-off at the Kaplan Center.

Admission: Per Skyline Conference rules, admission will be charged for Thursday night's contest. Admission for adults will be $5. Students with a valid Skyline Conference institution ID will NOT be charged admission.

At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary has won its last 13 games and enters Thursday's tilt with a 21-4 overall record and an unbeaten 18-0 conference record. The Knights have not lost a game since a home non-conference loss to New Paltz on January 3^rd and have reached at least 20 victories in a season for the second straight season.

The Knights are second in the Skyline Conference in scoring defense, allowing only 49.6 points per game, and rank tied for first in the league in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 30.3-percent over the course of the regular season.

Senior Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) paces the Mount Saint Mary scoring attack with 12.1 points per game, shooting 48.2-percent from the floor on the season, and leads in blocked shots with 35 on the season. She scored her 1,000th career points on January 12 against the United States Merchant Marine Academy and is second on the team in rebounding average with 8.5 boards per outing. She is just 12 rebounds short of 1,000 for her career and will become the first Mount basketball player with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career.

Sophomore Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) is contributing 10.4 points per game and is leading the team in assists with 78. Smith is shooting 45.8-percent from the floor through the regular season and has the highest three-point shooting percentage with 35.8-percent.

Senior Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) leads the Mount in rebounding average with 8.6 on the season and is one of seven players averaging at least five points per game. She is good for nearly 10 points per outing and is second in blocked shots with 13. Freshman Annie Keenan (Nesconset, N.Y.) is good for 7.1 points per game, rips down six rebounds per game and is second on the team in steals with 26, while freshman Toriana Tabasco (Hillsdale, N.J.) leads the team in steals with 35.
Nationally, the Knights rank tied for fourth in field goal percentage defense, tied for tenth in defensive rebounds per game (31) and 14^th in scoring defense.

Scouting Purchase: The fifth-seeded Panthers come to town with a 15-11 overall record and are coming off an 80-76 First Round victory over fourth-seeded St. Joseph's-Brooklyn on Tuesday. Senior Amber Jones led the scoring effort in the victory with 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior Amber Yarter added 20 points and seven boards, while freshman Shadai Plowden and senior Nyasia Harris also put up double-digits with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Jones is the Panthers leading scorer with 18.8 points per contest and is second in the conference in scoring, only trailing Yeshiva's Nicole Bick (19.6). Jones also leads in assists with 3.7 per game as well as steals with 65 on the season. She leads the team in shooting percentage, shooting 42.3-percent from the field.

Plowden adds 10.7 points per game, rips down 6.2 rebounds per outing and is second in blocks with 16. Harris leads the team in rebounding with 10.0 per contest and chips in 7.8 points per game. Arta Krasniqi leads in blocked shots with 35, adding 8.2 points and 5.7 boards.

Purchase ranks fourth in the conference in scoring offense, averaging 62.7 points per contest, falling just behind the Mount (65.4). The Panthers are fifth in scoring defense, allowing 62.6 per outing.

Regular Season Series: The Knights took both regular season matchups from the Panthers, posting a 62-53 home victory and an 80-42 road win.
In the home victory, the Mount held Purchase to 26.7-percent shooting from the field and 21.2-percent from three. The Knights dominated the paint, outrebounding the Panthers 50-34 and outscoring them 24-12 in the paint. Mount Saint Mary converted 15 turnovers into 19 points on the night.

Smith and freshman Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) led the team in points with 12 apiece while Cleare and Keenan each had 11 for the Knights. Cleare finished with a double-double with 12 rebounds to go with her 11 points and Keenan finished just short of a double-double with nine rebounds on the night. Maite Gritsko (Milford, C.T.) added a team-high five assists while Smith and Desrats each had four.

In the road triumph, the Knights finished the night shooting 51.5-percent shooting and 40.0-percent from the three-point line. They knocked down eight triples while limiting Purchase to 24.6-percent from the field and only five three-pointers. Mount Saint Mary outscored the Panthers 19-7 in points off turnovers, 34-16 in points in the paint and scored 16 second chance points.

Sophomore Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) finished 10-for-14 from the field en route to her career-high 20 points. Smith finished with 13 points and three assists while Desrats added 12 points, including four threes. Keenan chipped in 10 points and six rebounds as Gritsko and Tabasco each had a game-high four assists.

Skyline Conference Championship History: The Knights are making their fifth straight appearance in the Skyline Conference Championship Semifinals and are making their 19th appearance in the event over the last 20 seasons. The Knights are in search of their first conference crown since the 2011-12 season, the second of back-to-back titles and the 12th in a 13-year span.

What's At Stake: The winner of Thursday night's contest will receive a berth to Saturday's Skyline Conference Championship Final against the winner of the second-seeded United States Merchant Marine Academy and sixth-seeded Farmingdale State semifinal matchup.