Patchogue, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team was dealt a heartbreaking 78-75 loss at St. Joseph's-L.I. on Thursday night in double overtime. Four Dolphins scored at least 10 points on the night, with Sarah Kluth (Lynbrook, N.Y.) pacing the team with 15.
Mount Saint Vincent overcame a large first half deficit on Thursday after falling behind by 14 points with 10:57 to play before the half. After a Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, N.Y.) jumper for the Mount got it to within eight, the Golden Eagles used a 6-0 run to open their largest lead of the game.
The Dolphins would get the deficit under 10 points after an Andrea Sinaly (Middle Village, N.Y.) capped off a quick 8-0 run to get the Mount to within 24-18 with 6:10 left in the opening frame. The Mount would close the half with seven of the last 10 points scored to be within 31-27 at the intermission.
Both teams shot under 40-percent in the first half, with the Dolphins converting on 34.3-percent of their opportunities and the Golden Eagles converting on 37.2-percent. Each team knocked down a three-pointer and St. Joseph's Nicole Redding led all scores with 12 points at the half.
Mount Saint Vincent would be able to get the scored tied twice in the first seven minutes of the second half, but would not take its first lead of the contest until the 11:19 mark when a Montague triple pushed the Dolphins in front 41-38.
The two teams would trade the lead the remainder of the period, with neither able to jump in front by more then four points. Kluth would knock down a pair of free-throws with 49 seconds left in the half to give the Dolphins a three point edge, but a free-throw from Amanda Bender with 34 ticks left and a jumper with 17 seconds remaining forced the game to overtime.
In the first overtime period, the Mount used a 10-0 run highlighted by a pair of Kluth jumpers to open their largest lead of the game at 68-61 with 1:34 left in the period. The Dolphins would score just one more point the rest of the stanza, as St. Joseph's closed on an 8-1 run, including a Danielle Hamlin jumper in the final 10 second to force the second extra frame.
The Dolphins would only score six points in the second overtime period and would connect on just two field goal attempts. A Montague triple with 3:32 left to play got the Mount to within a point, but St. Joseph's would hit five free-throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Each team struggled from the floor on the night as both squads shot 33.3-percent from the field overall. St. Joseph's knocked in seven three-pointers to three for the Dolphins and converted 16 second chance points.
Kluth finished the night 6-for-14 from the field and also secured nine boards for the Dolphins. She came up short of her career-high in steals by two on the night with seven and also matched Sinaly with the team lead in assists with three.
Fraser had the best night of her early career with the Mount after scoring a career-best 10 points and pulling down a career and team-high 10 rebounds. She also blocked a pair of shots and swiped two steals.
Shannon Koch (Kings Park, N.Y.) scored a season-high 11 points for the Dolphins on 5-for-14 shooting and also chipped in with three rebounds and two steals. Brittany Griffin (Suffern, N.Y.) finished off a solid night with 11 points and seven boards, while Montague totaled eight points and collected four steals.
Bender, Redding and Laura Cohen each matched the game-high in scoring with 16 points apiece for St. Joseph's, with Christina Cohen chipping in with 13. Bender and Redding also recorded double-doubles with 13 and 11 rebounds, respectively.
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 1-3 overall on the season and to 0-1 in Skyline Conference play. The Mount will be back in action again on Tuesday when they travel to Staten Island for a non-conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.