New York, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Baskketball team snapped a six game losing streak on Thursday night with a convincing 84-44 Skyline Conference victory at Yeshiva. Five Dolphins scored in double-figures on the night, with freshman Sarah Kluth (Lynbrook, N.Y.) leading the way and matching her career-high with 17 points.
Mount Saint Vincent trailed only once on the night after Yeshiva's Naomi Gofine opened the scoring in the first half minute to give the Maccabees a quick 2-0 advantage. From there the Mount went on a 16-0 run to take a lead it would not give up the remainder of the contest. The run was highlighted by five buckets in the paint, with a pair of those coming from Kluth.
After opening the 16-2 lead the Dolphins would not let its advantage dip below double-figures the rest of the night and they held a lead as large as 19 points twice before halftime. Overall in the first period, the Dolphins shot just 39-percent from the floor, but converted 16 field goals to just seven for Yeshiva on their way to a 43-25 lead at the intermission. Kluth totaled 13 of her game-high 17 points in the opening stanza.
The Mount picked right up where it left off coming out of halftime and quickly used a 13-2 run over the first five minutes of the period to push its lead to 58-27. Senior Kerry O'Connor (Bethpage, N.Y.) played a key role over that stretch, burying a pair of three-pointers.
The Dolphins held the Maccabees to 34.8-percent shooting after the break, while shooting at a 45.2-percent clip themselves. Mount Saint Vincent held a lead as large as 41 points in the second half, following a Shannon Koch (Kings Park, N.Y.) jumper.
Overall on the night, the Mount shot 42.2-percent from the floor and knocked down four of its 10 three-point attempts. The Dolphins held a 42-34 edge on the glass, including a 26-8 advantage on the offensive boards. The defense also forced 40 Yeshiva turnovers and turned those into a 47-6 edge in points off of turnovers.
Kluth finished the night 8-for-12 from the floor and also chipped in with six rebounds, five assists and a career-high nine steals. She has now scored in double-figures in three straight contests and is averaging 16.0 points per game over that time.
Koch also had the best game of her young career on Thursday posting a career-high 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting overall. Brittany Griffin (Suffern, N.Y.) added 12 points off the bench and added five rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots. Griffin and Koch combined for 25 of the Dolphins' 32 bench points on the night.
Andree DeLeon (Flushing, N.Y.) and O'Connor rounded out the five in double-figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. O'Connor knocked down three of the Dolphins' four triples on the night and DeLeon added a pair of assists and two steals. DeLeon has also found her scoring touch, recoding at least 10 points in each of the last four games.
Junior Kara McNish (Hawthorne, N.J.) chipped in with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Andrea Sinaly (Middle Village, N.Y.) came off the bench to grab a career-high seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
Mount Saint Vincent recorded a number of team-highs on Thursday, including points in a game, assists and blocked shots. The 44 points Yeshiva scored was the lowest by an opponent this season and the 12 turnovers the Mount committed also ranked as the season best for the team.
The win improves Mount Saint Vincent to 2-6 overall on the season and to 1-4 in Skyline Conference play heading into the break. The Dolphins will be back on the court again when they travel to Farmingdale St. on January 4. Tip-off with the Rams is set for 6:00 p.m.