Newburgh, N.Y. – Led by a season-high 25 points from
Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) and a career-high 16 points from
Asia Rivera (Saddle Brook, N.J.), the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team scored its fourth straight win with a 78-51 home triumph over the United States Merchant Marine Academy Thursday night.
Thursday's victory pushes Mount Saint Mary to 8-3 overall on the season and to 5-1 in conference play, while the Mariners slip to 10-2 overall and 6-2 in league competition.
First Half
- The Knights trailed by four points in the early going on Thursday, before back-to-back triples from Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) and Rivera pushed them in front 14-11.
- The Mount built its lead to 20-13 on a Shannon Phelan (Tappan, N.Y.) three-pointer with 2:34 left in the opening period.
- The Knights' defense held the Mariners without a field goal over the final four minutes of the first quarter leading to a 20-14 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
- Mount Saint Mary scored the first nine points of the second frame to build its advantage to 29-14 on a pair of K. Smith free-throws with 7:01 left before halftime.
- USMMA cut its disadvantage down to nine points on a Bryanne Buchanan-Cummings bucket at the 2:37 mark, but that would be as close the Mariners would get the rest of the way.
- The Mount's lead ballooned to 15 points again when a K. Smith bucket with 48 seconds left in the half gave the Knights a 43-28 advantage before heading into the break with a 43-30 advantage.
- Mount Saint Mary shot 42.4-percent from the floor over the opening 20 minutes and knocked in seven three-pointers, including six in the first period.
- USMMA converted at 46.2-percent in the first half, but hit on just a single three-pointer.
- K. Smith led all scorers at the break with 18 points, going 6-for-9 from the floor with two triples to go along with a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line.
- Grace Jackson paced the Mariners with nine first half tallies.
Second Half
- The Knights came out of the break and pushed its lead to 50-34 on a K. Smith triple at the 7:46 mark.
- The advantage grew to 58-38 on a Ciarra Quinn (Bayside, N.Y.) three-pointer at the 3:27 mark of the third stanza.
- Mount Saint Mary went on to spread its lead to 69-45 through three periods on a Kaeli McAnally (Bay Shore, N.Y.) trey in the closing seconds of the quarter.
- Mount Saint Mary would not allow USMMA closer than 23 points through the fourth quarter.
- A Marissa Campbell (Franklin, N.Y.) three-pointer with 68 seconds left closed out the scoring in the game and gave the Knights the final 78-51 advantage.
- Mount Saint Mary improved to 43.3.-percent shooting in the second half and connected on five more three-pointers.
- USMMA was held to 23.1-percent shooting in the second half, including a 1-for-7 effort from three-point range.
- K. Smith and McAnally led the way with seven points apiece after halftime.
- Lauren Hunter led all scorers in the second half with 12 points for the Mariners.
For The Knights
- K. Smith finished with a season-high 25 points, coming up just a single point shy of matching her career-high. She went 9-for-16 from the floor with three triples to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
- Rivera posted her career-high point total on 6-for-12 shooting, including three triples, while adding three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
- Quinn netted a season-high nine points for the Mount and led the team with four assists.
- Kate Hughes (Belle Harbor, N.Y.) paced the Knights with six rebounds.
- Charlotte Twohig (Syossett, N.Y.) handed out three assists and swiped four steals while chipping in four points.
For The Mariners
- Hunter, who entered the game leading the league in scoring and rebounding, led USMMA with 13 points to go along with six rebounds.
- Jackson totaled 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.
- Hannah Ramsden came off the bench to score 13 points and collect seven rebounds.
- Madison Demos led all players with 11 rebounds, adding six points and three assists.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary shot 42.9-percent overall in the game and hit on 12 three-pointers, giving it 26 triples over its last two contests.
- USMMA converted at 34.6-percent overall and went just 2-for-13 from long range.
- Mount Saint Mary forced 26 turnovers leading to a 25-7 advantage in points off of miscues.
- The Mount's bench outscored USMMA's 28-15.
What's Next
- The Knights travel to conference front runner Manhattanville on Saturday.
- USMMA takes to the road to face Sarah Lawrence on Saturday afternoon.
