The Mount Extends Win Streak To Four

By Steven Merritt

BROOKLYN – The Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Basketball team pushed its winning streak to four on Saturday as the Knights defeated Skyline foe St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn 63-53 on the road at the Hill Center. Junior Morina Bojka and senior Lyndsay Pace both registered double-digit points for the Mount in the victory.

The Knights took an early 7-2 lead on a Bojka lay-in just two and a half minutes into the game as the two squads battled back and forth over the first quarter. The Bears took its first lead at 12-11 on a Samantha Wilber layup with 3:58 remaining in the quarter. Mount Saint Mary ended the quarter on a 10-0 run on five points from Pace to hold a nine point lead after one quarter.

The Bears cut the lead to two points with 5:36 left in the second quarter on an Alexis Breen triple, which was followed by a Bojka mid-range jumper. Breen once again drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead to one just one minute later. The Mount rattled off another run to end a quarter as the Knights scored 13 straight points to conclude the first half to open up its biggest lead of the game at 14.

The Knights shot 34.9-percent over the first 20 minutes and hit just two three-pointers while the Bears shot 32.2-percent from the field and knocked down three three-pointers in the half. Bojka led the way with 10 points in the first half while Pace added nine and Annie Keenan chipped in seven points. Kelly O’Donnell and Breen each scored six points for St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn in the first half.

After a traditional three-point play from O’Donnell to start the second half, Pace drilled a three off a feed from Lauren Desrats. The Knights held a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter until an O’Donnell jumper with 2:01 remaining cut the Mount lead to nine points.

Two Wilber free throws cut the lead down to five points for the Knights at the end of three quarters.

St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn trimmed the Knights lead down to just one point with 6:17 left in the fourth quarter on a Deserae Sequeira bucket in the paint. After a Bojka three-pointer that pushed the lead back to four, the Mount ended the contest on a 14-5 run over the final six minutes. Bojka tallied nine of the final 14 points for the Knights to clinch their fourth straight victory.

Bojka and Pace combined for 19 of the 25 points scored by the Mount in the second half as the Knights shot just 26.6-percent in the second half. O’Donnell scored 13 points in the second half for the Bears as they shot just over 43-percent in the half.

Bojka finished the day with 21 points on 9-for-23 from the field along with eight rebounds and a team-high six assists. Pace finished with 17 points on 6-for-15 from the field and also added eight rebounds and four steals. Keenan added seven points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for the Knights.

O’Donnell led St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn with 19 points and five rebounds while Breen added 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Emma Kiley chipped in seven points and 12 rebounds and Sequeira handed out a game-high seven assists.

Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 30.7-percent from the field while the Bears were 34.5-percent on the day. The Knights converted 17 points off turnovers and 18 second chance points. The Mount also outscored the Bears 30-18 in the paint.