Mount Saint Mary Knights Battle Past Yeshiva, 76-52

NEWBURGH – Morina Bojka led four Knights in double-figures with 23 points and Shannon Phelan netted a career-high 17 points as the Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Basketball team scored its third straight victory with a 76-52 win over Yeshiva Tuesday evening.

Mount Saint Mary stands at 15-3 overall on the season and 13-1 in conference play after picking up its 11th win in the last 12 outings. The victory also gives the Mount its 20th straight win in the head-to-head series with the Maccabees.

First Half
Mount Saint Mary opened a 10-0 lead just 2:38 into the contest, but then struggled to just 11 more points the rest of the opening stanza.

Bojka scored six points over the opening run with Annie Keenan adding the other four tallies.

The Knights pulled in front 15-2, its largest lead of the half, on a Bojka conversion with just under three minutes left in the first quarter.

The Knights finished the opening period with a 21-11 advantage after shooting 36.8-percent from the floor and just 1-for-8 from three-point range.

Yeshiva scored the first six points of the second period to cut its deficit to 21-17 with 6:38 left before halftime.

The Maccabees pulled to within four points on two other occasions in the second quarter, but could not pull any closer before halftime.

A free-throw and a bucket from Katie Smith in the final 2:45 of the half sent the Mount to the intermission with a 28-21 lead.

The Knights went 9-for-43 (20.9-percent) overall in the half and just 1-for-20 from three-point range.

Yeshiva converted at 34.5-percent in the opening 20 minutes and connected on one of its six three-pointers.

Bojka led the Mount with 11 points before halftime.

Keenan narrowly missed a double-double in the first half with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Daniella Bessler led Yeshiva with 10 first half tallies.

Second Half
After going 1-fof-20 from behind the arc in the first half, the Mount converted at 40-percent from three-point range (6-for-15) after halftime.

The Knights outscored Yeshiva 48-31 in the second half, including 24-15 in the third period.
Mount Saint Mary saw its advantage sliced to just 34-31 on a pair of Shai Rahamim free-throws with 5:31 left in the third period.

The Knights responded with the next 10 points, including triples from Phelan and Erin Smith, that pushed the Mount in front 44-31 with 1:44 left in the third.

The Knights lead grew to 50-33 on another Phelan triple in the final half minute of the third quarter before taking a 52-36 lead into the final stanza.

The Mount Saint Mary lead grew to 20 points for the first time on a layup from Bojka that pushed the Knights in front 56-36 just 50 seconds into the final stanza.

The Mount’s lead would not fall under 16 points from that point and ballooned to a game-high 76-47 advantage on a Phelan bucket with 70 seconds left.

Mount Saint Mary improved to 41.9-percent shooting overall after halftime.

Phelan did all of her scoring in the final 20 minutes of action.

For The Knights
Bojka reached the 20-point mark for the third straight contest, finishing up with 23 points and 10 rebounds. She closed a big night with a team-high four assists, a blocked shot and two steals.

Phelan posted a new career-high with 17 points on the strength of 7-for-15 shooting, including three triples. She chipped in five rebounds and a blocked shot.

Keenan notched a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, including 10 offensive caroms. She rounded out the win with two assists and a pair of steals.

K. Smith chipped in 12 points on the strength of a 6-for-8 effort from the free-throw line and added a pair of assists.

E. Smith recorded eight points, connecting on two triples, and dished out three assists.

For The Maccebees
Rahamim and Bessler each finished with 18 points.

Bessler closed a double-double with 12 rebounds, adding four assists, a block and a steal.

Daniella Rothman grabbed five rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.