Purchase, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team opened Skyline Conference play on Tuesday night with a 79-64 road win at Purchase.
Erin Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) scored a career-high 15 points in the victory with
Morina Bojka (Prospect, Conn.) leading all scorers in the game with 19 points.
Mount Saint Mary improves to 2-1 overall on the season and 1-0 in league play, while Purchase falls to 0-2 in the early going and 0-1 in conference action. Tuesday's win is the 11
th straight for the Knights over the Panthers dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season.
First Quarter
- Mount Saint Mary shot 44.4-percent overall in the opening 10 minutes and converted on three of its 10 three-point field goal attempts.
- The Mount trailed briefly twice at the start of the opening stanza, but used a 12-4 run to jump in front 12-6. The Knights went 5-for-6 from the floor over the run with Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) leading the way with five points.
- The Knights' lead would not grow larger than six points in the opening stanza and Purchase sliced its deficit to a single point twice in the final 1:39 of the quarter.
- Following a Shamoni Berrios layup brought the Panthers to within 16-15, E. Smith canned a three-pointer in the final half minute to give the Mount a 19-15 advantage after the first period of play.
Second Quarter
- E. Smith quickly spread the Mount's lead to seven points early in the second period with another three-pointer and a Chrolotte Twohig (Syosset, N.Y.) jumper with 5:23 left before halftime grew the Knights' lead to 30-19.
- A Bojka jumper with 48 seconds left in the second quarter pushed the Mount's lead to a half-high 12 points at 40-28, before the Knights took a 40-30 lead into the intermission following a pair of free-throws form Berrios.
- Mount Saint Mary shot just shy of 43-percent from the floor in the second stanza and connected on three more triples.
Third Quarter
- Mount Saint Mary opened the third period with a 13-5 stretch to build a game-high 53-35 advantage following a Shannon Phelan (Tappan, N.Y.) free-throw midway through the quarter.
- The Knights would not allow the Panthers closer than 11 points the remainder of the period.
- Mount Saint Mary cooled to 31.3-percent shooting in the third period and outscored the Panthers by four from the free-throw line.
Fourth Quarter
- Neither team would score for nearly the first two minutes of the fourth period and the Knights would not score until a Phelan three-pointer pushed the lead back to 60-49 with 6:48 left in regulation.
- Mount Saint Mary would not score again until a Bojka conversion with 3:13 remaining in the game, giving the Knights a 62-49 advantage.
- The Knights would not allow the Panthers closer than 10 points the remainder of the night and grew its lead to 16 points following a three-point play from K. Smith with 97 seconds left to play.
- The Knights shot just 23.5-percent in the final period and went just 1-for-6 from three-point range.
- The Knights held Purchase without a three-pointer in five attempts in the fourth period and outscored Purchase 13-8 from the free-throw line.
For The Knights
- Bojka reached double-figures for the first time in three games this season, going 7-for-18 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. She added nine rebounds and three assists to the winning effort.
- E. Smith scored her career-high 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting, including a 5-for-11 effort from three-point range. She collected five rebounds and joined Bojka with a team-high three assists.
- K. Smith totaled 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 showing from the charity stripe.
- Annie Keenan (Nesconset, N.Y.) totaled eight points, eight rebounds and three steals.
- Toriana Tabasco (Hillsdale, N.J.) finished with six points, six rebounds, a pair of assists and a team-high four steals.
- Phelan rounded out the win with eight points and four boards.
For The Panthers
- Purchase was led by 18 points from Berrios who closed a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds.
- Kasia Morrsion scored 15 points off the bench.
- Shaai Plowden added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
- Alyssa Aurora led all players with four assists in the game.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary closed the night shooting 36.1-percent from the floor and 28.6-percent from three-point range.
- Purchase converted at 35.9-percent overall and 26.7-percent from bonus distance.
- The Knights finished with a 32-11 advantage in points off of turnovers.
- Mount Saint Mary posted a 24-13 advantage in fast break points.
What's Next
- The Knights travel to St. Joseph's-Brooklyn for a Saturday afternoon contest with the Bears.
- Purchase heads to Farmingdale State on Saturday.
