Newburgh, N.Y. –  The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team travels to Gettysburg to play in the 2019 Division III Women's Basketball Championship on Friday night. The Knights will take on Westfield State in a first round matchup with a tip-off time scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Tickets: For Friday night's contest, admission for adults will be $7. Students from participating institutions, children 3-18 and senior citizens will be $4. Children under the age of 2 will NOT be charged admission.

At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary completed the regular season at 22-5 overall and was perfect in regular season Skyline Conference play at 18-0. The Knights won 14 straight contests before being tripped up in the Skyline Conference Championship game against the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Senior Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, N.Y.) leads the Knights in scoring with 12.4 points per game and is in the midst of a strong all-around campaign with 8.6 rebounds and 34 blocks on the season while shooting nearly 50-percent from the floor and became the first ever player with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. Cleare finishes her decorated Knights career voted as Skyline Conference Co-Rookie of the Year as a freshman, Second Team as a sophomore and junior and Player of the Year and First Team as a senior.

Sophomore Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) is leads the team in assist average with 3.2 per contest while scoring 10.2 points per night. Smith is a 45.6-percent shooter for the Knights from the floor and is 37.0-percent from three.

Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, N.Y.) leads the Mount in rebounding average with 8.8 on the season and she is good for nearly 10 points per outing and is second in blocked shots with 13. Freshman Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) is good for 7.9 points per game and is second on the team in assists with 64, while freshman Toriana Tabasco (Hillsdale, N.J.) leads the team in steals with 36.

Preseason Notes: After winning the regular season crown in 2017-18 and dropping the Skyline Conference final to Old Westbury, the Knights were picked second in the preseason poll. The Knights posted an 18-0 record in conference play in 2018-19, beating the Merchant Marine by two games.

All-Skyline Conference Honors: Cleare was tabbed Skyline Conference Player of the Year as well as receiving first team accolades for her senior campaign. Smith earned Skyline Conference second team honors in her sophomore season.

Defense, Defense, Defense: The Mount ranks second in the Skyline Conference in scoring defense with 49.1 per contest. Nationally, the Knights rank tied for fourth in field goal percentage defense, tied for fifth in defensive rebounds per game (31) and 14^th in scoring defense.

Balanced Scoring: The Knights boast seven different players that are averaging five or more points per game on the season.

NCAA Tournament History: The Mount received an at-large bid on Monday afternoon and will return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2011-12 season. It also is the first at-large bid received by Mount Saint Mary since 2009-10 when the Mount lost to Williams at Ithaca in the first round.
Mount Saint Mary is making its 14th appearance in the national tournament in program history and its first since advancing to the second round in 2011-12.

Last Time Out: The Mount was held to a season-low 39 points as they suffered their first loss in almost two months to the United States Merchant Marine Academy 44-39 in the Skyline Conference Final.

Cleare and Smith each finished the game with a team-high 14 points as Cleare added 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Smith was 7-for-14 from the field, Cleare finished 5-for-8 and Limonta chipped a team-high 11 rebounds.

Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 25.8-percent for the game and was 0-for-19 from the three-point line. The Mariners finished 38.1-percent as a team and knocked down three triples in the contest. The Mount outscored the Mariners 26-12 in the paint as Merchant Marine outscored the Mount in second chance points 12-10 and points off turnovers 15-12. The Knights grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and the Mariners grabbed 10.

Scouting the Owls: Westfield State finished the season at 18-9 overall and 10-2 in the MASCAC. The Owls clinched an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament following their 84-73 victory over Worcester State in the MASCAC tournament. They enter the tournament on a six game winning streak.

The Owls have 12 players who averaging nine or more minutes played per game. MASCAC Player of the Year senior Lucy Barrett leads the team in scoring with 19.2 points per game. MASCAC second teamer Melissa Gray adds 17.1 points per contest as fellow second teamer Kierra McCarthy chips in 13.9 points per outing off the bench.

Chelsea Moussette leads Westfield State in assists with over five per game while Barrett and McCarthy average right around five rebounds per contest to lead the Owls on the glass. Nine players for Westfield State average one or more steals per game with Barrett averaging three per contest.

Westfield State is averaging 88.2 points per game on 37-percent shooting as a team. The Owls shoot 30.5-percent from three and averaging just under 38 three-point attempts on the season.

Defensively, Westfield State allows 78.7 per contest on 47.1-percent from the field. They hold teams to 30.5-percent from bonus distance. The Owls lead the country in steals per game, averaging 19.7 while forcing 33.6 turnovers, which is also the top in Division III. Westfield State gets outrebounded by almost 10 rebounds per contest while grabbing almost 20 offensive rebounds per game.

What's At Stake: The Knights are looking for their first NCAA tournament victory since 2011-12 when the Mount defeated Gwynedd Mercy. Westfield State is looking for their first win in their seventh NCAA tournament appearance.

Around The Bracket: In addition to the Knights and Owls, Christopher Newport and host Gettysburg will face-off in Gettysburg at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night. The two winners will square-off for a chance to go to the Sweet 16 on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.