Mount Saint Mary Blue Knights Stifle Rams

NEWBURGH – The Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Basketball team held the fourth highest scoring team in the league to better than 20 points under its season average on its way to a 51-41 home conference win over Farmingdale State on Saturday. Bridget Kelly came off the bench to lead the team with nine points.
Farmingdale State came out scorching from behind the arc, knocking in four of its first five attempts from bonus distance on its way to a 12-2 advantage just over two minutes into the game. The Rams moved in front by 11 midway through the first period, before the Knights closed to within 19-11 on a Jessica Rini conversion in the closing seconds of the first quarter.
After scoring 19 points in the opening 10 minutes on Saturday, Farmingdale State was not able to score more than nine points in either of the final three stanzas. The Knights were not able to lead in the second frame, but used a Megan Kerutis bucket to pull to within 20-19 with 4:26 left before halftime.
A.J. Smith pushed the Farmingdale State lead by to four with her fourth three-pointer of the first half, but a three-point play from Kelly and a free-throw from Lyndsay Pace in the final 3:05 of the second quarter helped the Knights shave their disadvantage to just 25-23 at the intermission.
The Rams knocked in six three-point field goals prior to halftime, but shot just 34.6-percent from the floor in the initial 20 minutes. The Knights were held to 29.6-percent for the half and went just 1-for-7 from behind the arc.
Kerutis evened the score at 25-25 on a jumper just over a minute into the third period and Jordyn Hellpap gave the Knights their first lead of the game with a conversion 30 seconds later that pushed the Mount in front 27-25.
Farmingdale State regained a one point lead on a Liz Durchhalter three-pointer with 5:55 left in the third and an Essence Casey bucket spread the lead back to 32-29 in favor of the visitors.
Maite Gritsko canned a three-pointer to give the Mount a 34-32 lead and the bucket proved to be the final lead change of the game. After taking a one point lead into the final frame, the Knights outscored Farmingdale State 15-7 in the fourth quarter, taking their largest lead of the game, the final 10 point bulge, on a Hellpap free-throw with nine seconds left.
Mount Saint Mary did not have a player score in double-figures in the game, but featured six players with at least six points in the win. Kelly finished 3-for-6 from the floor and joined Rini and Gritsko with seven rebounds in the game. Kayla Cleare led the Knights on the glass with eight boards, while Pace posted a team-high three assists.
Mount Saint Mary shot 35.2-percent for the game, but held Farmingdale State to a 26.9-percent conversion rate and allowed just three second half three-point field goals. The Knights dominated the paint in the game, outscoring the Rams 26-4 inside.
Saturday’s win stops a mini two game slide for the Mount and improves it to 9-3 overall and to 5-1 in conference play. The Knights will return to action on Wednesday when they pay host to Old Westbury. Tip-off with the Panthers is set for 6:00 p.m.