MSMC Knights Defeat Farmingdale State, 82-74

FARMINGDALE – Led by 31 points from Morina Bojka and a career-high 23 tallies from Katie Smith, the Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Basketball team got back into the win column on Wednesday night with an 82-74 road league win at Farmingdale State.

Wednesday’s victory gives Mount Saint Mary nine wins in its last 10 outings and improves it to 13-3 overall on the season and 11-1 in league play. The Rams fall to 8-7 overall and an even 6-6 in conference action.

Mount Saint Mary outscored Farmingdale State 21-13 in the opening 10 minutes, shooting an even 50-percent from the floor in the first quarter.

The Knights trailed by a single point twice in the opening stanza, but used an 8-0 run over the final 3:16 of the quarter to break a 13-13 tie.

Smith keyed the run with a pair of buckets for the Mount.

The Knights spread their lead to 24-15 on an Annie Keenan three-pointer early in the second period, one of just two triples before halftime for the Mount.

The Knights would not let the Rams closer than four points in the second quarter and pushed its lead to double-figures for the first time on a Bojka bucket with 4:22 left before halftime.

The Knights’ lead grew to a half-high 14 points on a pair of Smith free-throws with 59 seconds left in the half before Ciarra Quinn converted a free-throw to send the Mount into the break with a 42-29 advantage.

The Knights held a 21-16 scoring advantage in the second period after going 8-for-16 from the floor in the quarter.

Mount Saint Mary went 16-for-32 from the floor prior to halftime, but connected on just two of 12 three-point attempts.

Farmingdale State shot an even 30-percent in the first half, including 2-for-8 from three-point range.

Bojka and Smith combined for 34 of the team’s 42 points in the first half.

Samantha Muller led the Rams with 11 first half points.

Second Half
Mount Saint Mary opened the third period on a 13-4 run capped by a Toriana Tabasco three-point play that pushed the advantage to 55-33 with 4:58 left in the quarter.

The Knights’ advantage grew to 23 points on an Erin Smith triple with 3:10 left, giving the Mount a 62-39 lead.

Farmingdale State countered with an 11-0 run over the final 3:10 of the quarter to slice its disadvantage to 62-50 on an Anna Zaborowska layup with 37 ticks left in the stanza.

Mount Saint Mary cooled to 34.8-percent shooting in the third while the Rams converted at better than 46-percent.

The Knights built their lead back to 71-52 on a K. Smith conversion early in the fourth and maintained a double-digit advantage until the closing moments of regulation.

The Rams would close to within 10 points three times over the final 4:02 of the fourth, but could only get the disadvantage to the final 82-74 decision on a conversion with four seconds left.

Mount Saint Mary returned to its efficient shooting in the fourth, going 8-for-16 from the floor again and 3-for-6 from three-point range.

Farmingdale State shot 62.5-percent in the fourth, connecting on a single three-pointer.
Bojka poured in 13 second half points for the Knights on 6-for-9 shooting.

K. Smith and Lauren Desrats each scored seven points after halftime for the Knights.

Layla Mendoza led the Rams with 12 points after the break.

For The Knights
Bojka reached the 30-point plateau for the second time this season with a game-high 31 points. She went 12-for-23 from the floor and added nine rebounds and four assists. Bojka stands just 12 points shy of 1,000 in her career.

K. Smith broke her previous career mark of 21 with a 10-for-17 effort from the floor. She added four assists and three rebounds to her 23-point performance.

Keenan returned to the lineup with eight points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Tabasco rounded out the victory with three points, five rebounds and four steals for the Knights.

For The Rams
Muller and Mendoza each scored 20 points to lead Farmingdale State. Muller added six assists and four steals to lead the Rams.

Kalena Ricketts chipped in 12 points and closed a double-double with a game-high 15 rebounds. She finished off a strong night with four assists and three thefts.

Mackenzie Tierney posted nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.