Mount Blue Knights Cruise Past Farmingdale State

By Steven Merritt

NEWBURGH – The Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Basketball team cruised to a 79-47 conference victory over Farmingdale State at the Kaplan Center on Saturday afternoon. Junior Morina Bojka and sophomore Annie Keenan each tallied 20 points apiece for the Knights.

The Mount jumped out to a quick 15-2 lead in the early going as Lauren Desrats tallied the first five points of the quarter and knocked down three three-pointers in the first four minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers from Anna Zaborowska and Alexis Antonacci cut the lead to single digits before the Knights scored the final 12 points of the quarter to open up a 27-8 lead after one.

Keenan tallied eight of her 20 points in the first quarter while Desrats also added eight in the period. Antonacci and Zaborowska combined for all eight points in the quarter as the Rams were limited to 2-for-13 from the field. The Mount knocked down five triples in the first 10 minutes.

The Knights lead never lowered below 19 points in the second quarter as the Knights lead jumped to 29 points with 39 seconds remaining on a Gabriella Rafaniello putback. Keenan finished the first half with 15 points, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the three-point line, and five rebounds. Bojka tallied nine in the first 20 minutes and sophomore Toriana Tabasco and Desrats each chipped in eight at the half.

Farmingdale State was held to 8-for-30 in the first half and just 2-for-8 from three-point range. The Knights finished the half shooting 48.5-percent from the field as well as 6-for-13 from three. Mount Saint Mary also was 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the first two quarters.

The Rams cut the lead down to 16 points with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter on a Zaborowska bucket but back-to-back triples from Tabasco pushed the lead back to 22 after three quarters. Farmingdale State was held scoreless over the final 3:56 of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Knights lead never fell below 24 points as the Mount outscored Farmingdale State 18-8 in the final stanza. Mount Saint Mary outscored the Rams 11-3 over the final seven minutes as a Taylor O’Brien three-pointer gave the Knights its largest lead of the game at 35 with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Bojka tallied 11 points in the second half as the Mount shot 46.2-percent in the second half and knocked down five threes. Farmingdale State shot 33.3-percent from the field in the second half and buried three triples with Antonacci leading the way with seven points.

Keenan finished the day 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from three-point range and adding six rebounds and three steals. Bojka finished 9-for-15 and tallied her 20 points in just 18 minutes of play while Tabasco finished with a career-high 14 points and chipped in a team-high seven rebounds and three assists. Antonacci finished with a team-high 14 points and three steals for Farmingdale State while Zaborowska tallied 12 points.

Mount Saint Mary finished the day shooting 47.5-percent from teh field and 47.8-percent from the three-point line. The Knights were also 12-for-15 on the day from the free-throw line as the Rams were held to 30-percent from the field and just 29.7-percent from the three-point line.

The Knights outscored the Rams 23-9 in points off turnovers as well as 32-18 in points in the paint. Mount Saint Mary tallied 18 assists on 28 made field goals on the day and forced 23 turnovers.