Troy, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team dropped its sixth straight contest on Tuesday night after a 66-56 loss at league rival Sage. Sophomore Andree DeLeon (Flushing, N.Y.) and freshman Sarah Kluth (Lynbrook, N.Y.) led the team with 14 points, while freshman Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added a career-best 10.
Mount Saint Vincent ran out to a 5-0 lead after a Kerry O'Connor (Bethpage, N.Y.) triple and bucket from Kluth and held a lead as large as seven points at the 10:26 mark of the half after six straight points from Montague.
Sage would tie the score once in the final five minutes and take a 28-27 lead after a Jessica Byerwalters bucket with just over two minutes left before the half. The Mount would respond with five of the final seven points of the half to take a 31-29 edge into the locker room. Kluth and Montague led the offensive output with eight points each as the Dolphins shot just under 43-percent in the period.
Mount Saint Vincent would struggle to score in the second half as it shot just 32.3-percent from the floor and went 1-for-8 from behind the arc. The two teams would trade baskets and the lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the Gators used an 8-0 run over nearly two and half minutes to break a 45-45 tie and open an eight point lead. Overall Sage closed the last 9:30 of the second half on a 21-11 run to claim its third win of the season.
The Dolphins finished the game shooting 37.3-percent from the floor and went just 2-for-16 from behind the arc. Kluth and DeLeon combined for 13 of the Mount's 22 field goals on the night, with DeLeon going 6-for-13 from the floor and Kluth going 7-for-12. Montague went 3-for-13 from the field on the night but converted four of her five free-throws for her 10 point total.
Brittany Griffin (Suffern, N.Y.) chipped in with eight points for the Dolphins and added five rebounds, with Kara McNish (Hawthorne, N.Y.) and Katie Foley (Valley Stream, N.Y.) both adding five boards as well. Kluth led the team on the glass with seven rebounds and also swiped a career-high six steals.
Sage (3-4, 2-2 Skyline) was paced by Chelsea Martin who netted a game-high 21 points and added eight rebounds. Kara Hackett pulled in a game-high 11 boards and Byerwalters added 14 points. Elizabeth Donk finished the night with a game-high six assists for the Gators.
The loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 1-6 overall on the season and to 0-4 in league play. The Dolphins will be back in action again on December 16 when they travel to Yeshiva. Tip-off with the Maccabees is slated for 8:00 p.m.