Newburgh, N.Y. – Fresh off an eight-point victory over the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the First Round of the 2023 Skyline Conference Championship, the Mount Saint Mary College Women's Basketball team will head to second seed Manhattanville Thursday night for a Semifinal Round matchup with the Valiants. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Kennedy Gymnasium with Live Stats and Video provided for those unable to attend.
 
Ticket Information: The following statement was released by the Mount Saint Mary College Athletic Department on Wednesday is regards to tickets for tonight's contest.

 
At A Glance: With Tuesday's victory over Mount Saint Vincent, the Knights won their fourth straight contest and moved to 19-5 overall and to within a win of posting its fifth straight 20-win season.
 
Katie Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) continues to lead the Knights in scoring, putting up 11.3 points per game while shooting 43.2-percent from the floor. Smith also paces the Knights with 4.0 assists per night, a mark that is tied for fourth in the Skyline Conference to date.
 
Coming off a career-high 20 points in Tuesday's First Round victory over the Dolphins, Erin Smith (Goshen, N.Y.) is scoring 9.0 points per game and has moved into a tie for the team lead in three-pointers with 29. Lauren Desrats (Warwick, N.Y.) joins E. Smith with a team-high 29 triples and supports the offense with 8.2 points, 1.8 assists and 1.8 steals per contest.
 
Asia Rivera (Saddle Brook, N.J.) and Kate Hughes (Belle Harbor, N.Y.) are tied for third on the team in scoring with 8.3 points per game with Rivera leading the way on the team in steals with 2.3 per game and Hughes pacing the Knights on the glass with a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game.
 
Charlotte Twohig (Syosset, N.Y.) and Cailean Nolan (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) supply a spark off the bench for the Knights with each averaging 5.5 points per game. Twohig secures just over three rebounds per game and swipes nearly two steals per night, while Nolan has connected on 26 three-pointers and is shooting an even 40.0-percent from behind the arc.
 
Mount Saint Mary continues to lead the Skyline Conference in scoring and scoring margin with 75.0 points per night while outscoring opponents by an average of 23.2 points per outing. The Knights rank third in the conference in scoring defense, allowing only 51.8 points per game, and sit atop the league leaderboard in turnover margin (11.5) and assist to turnover ratio (1.18).
 
The Knights shoot 39.5-percent overall from the floor, 28.9-percent from three-point range and 66.8-percent from the free-throw line, all marks that rank the Knights third in the conference.
 
Scouting The Valiants: Manhattanville earned a First Round bye in the Championship and enter Thursday's contest on a seven-game winning streak and with a 20-3 overall record.
 
Juliana Kascic leads the Valiants in nearly every statistical category, coming into play Thursday averaging team-highs in points (14.3), rebounds (11.0) and assists (3.2). Kascic shoots 54.5-pecent from the floor on the season, leading the conference in field goal percentage.
 
Jamison Agostino checks in with 12.9 points per night for Manhattanville and leads the Skyline Conference in three-pointers made with 73 and three-point field goal percentage at 34.3-percent.
 
Amanda Orlando is good for nearly 10 points per outing and swipes just over two steals per game, while Niyona Smith scores just over eight points and hauls in 7.5 rebounds per contest.
 
Manhattanville scores 66.7 points per game on the season, good for third in the conference, but allows only 46.1 points per night to its opponents which is first in the league. The Valiants outscore their opponents by nearly 21 points, trailing only the Mount in scoring margin in the conference.
 
The Valiants rank second in the conference in field goal percentage, converting at 39.7-percent overall, and pace the Skyline in opponent field goal percentage (29.3) and three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 31.0-percent of their attempts from behind the arc.
 
Regular Season Series: The Knights and Valiants split the regular season series with each winning on the other's home floor. The Knights traveled to Kennedy Gymnasium on January 7 and came away with a 61-51 victory, with the Valiants visiting the Kaplan Center on February 8 and scoring a tough 57-55 victory.
 
In the Mount's victory, the Knights were held to 35.4-percent shooting overall and made just five three-pointers. The Mount took advantage of poor free-throw shooting from the Valiants, with Manhattanville going just 12-for-28 from the charity stripe. Manhattanville made five fewer field goals than the Knights and connected on only three triples with the 16 missed free-throw attempts looming large.
 
K. Smith and Rivera led the scoring attack in the win with 11 points apiece with Smith adding five rebounds and four assists. Rivera grabbed four rebounds and collected two steals.
 
Manhattanville received 12 points from N. Smith with Kascic posting a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Orlando produced 11 points, two assists and a pair of steals.
 
At the Kaplan Center, Manhattanville shot 41.5-percent overall, despite going just 2-for-11 from three-point range. The Valiants improved to 11-for-16 from the free-throw line and held the Knights to 33.9-percent shooting overall and a 2-for-22 effort from three-point range.
 
Orlando poured in 18 points for Manhattanville on 7-for-15 shooting, with N. Smith rounding out the night with 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Kascic supported the victory with 10 points, eight caroms and four assists.
 
K. Smith scored 18 points, and had a look at the horn to tie rim out, and added three assists and three steals.
 
Recent History: Mount Saint Mary and Manhattanville meet in the Semifinal Round for the second straight season and for the 10^th time since the start of the 2014-15 season. The Valiants stopped a four-game skid in the series with their win at the Kaplan Center earlier in February with the Knights holding a 5-4 record in the head-to-head series since November 21, 2014.
 
Recent Skyline Conference Championship History: Mount Saint Mary will make its eighth straight appearance in the Semifinal Round when it takes the floor against the Valiants on Thursday. With that, the Mount will be in search of its fourth berth into the Skyline Conference Championship Final in the last five seasons it has been held.

After getting clipped at home in the Final in both 2018 and 2019, the Knights broke through with their 13^th conference crown in program history, and first since 2012, with a 61-53 victory over USMMA in 2022. The Knights won 10 straight title from 2000-09, adding backto-back championships in 2011 and 2012 before getting back to the top of the conference in 2022.
 
What's At Stake: Thursday winner will earn the right to play for the conference's berth into the NCAA Tournament on Saturday against the winner of the (4) St. Joseph's-L.I. and (1) USMMA semifinal.