Oswego, N.Y. – Senior captain Kara McNish (Hawthorne, N.J.) scored a career-high 19 points and recorded her 11th career double-double and sophomore Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, N.Y.) matched her career-high with 10 points as the College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team secured its first win of the season after downing D'Youville 86-73 on Friday afternoon.
Mount Saint Vincent would get off to a fast start on Friday and opened a lead as large as 14 points in the first half. After trailing 5-4 in the early going, the Mount ran off 15 straight points, keyed by five from Montague, to open a 19-5 advantage halfway through the opening stanza.
D'Youville would respond with a 19-2 spurt to regain the lead at 24-21 with just over six minutes remaining before the half. The run was keyed by back-to-back three points from Sara Wozniak and Jordyn Schenk.
After regaining the lead, the Spartans would not give it up the rest of the way in the first half and carried a 41-39 edge into the break after shooting 45.2-percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. A balanced scoring attack that saw eight players record a point was led by nine points from Schenk.
For the second straight contest, Mount Saint Vincent came out of the intermission with a purpose and used a quick 8-0 run over the first 2:11 of the second half to take a lead it would not give up. Four points from Brittany Griffin (Suffern, N.Y.) and a three-point play from Amy Delva (Nanuet, N.Y.) keyed the run for the Dolphins.
The Mount would push its lead to double-figures on a McNish lay-in with 14:43 left in regulation and the Dolphins' lead would balloon to a game-high 17 points after a Delva conversion with 3:27 left in the second half.
Mount Saint Vincent finished the contest shooting 42.7-percent from the field and went 2-for-7 from behind the arc. The Dolphins failed to convert a three-point field goal for the first time in 154 games in the season opener. The Mount also was effective from the free-throw line after going 20-for-28 in the contest.
McNish finished the game 8-for-14 from the floor for the Dolphins on her way to a career-high and also pulled down a game and season-high 16 rebounds. She also led the team with four assists in the win.
McNish was one of five Mount Saint Vincent players to score at least 10 points, joining Montague who went 3-for-9 from the floor on her way to 10 points. Delva and Griffin each record 12 points for the Mount to go along with three and four rebounds, respectively.
Sophomore Sarah Kluth (Lynbrook, N.Y.) recorded her third career double-double against the Spartans after totaling 16 points and securing 11 rebounds. Kluth went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the game and also handed out three assists and swiped two steals.
D'Youville was led by 17 points from Schenk on the night as the Spartans shot 44.4-percent from the floor. The team knocked down six three-pointers in the game, led by three from Bridget Andrews.
Friday's win evens Mount Saint Vincent's record at 1-1 overall on the season. The Dolphins will look to claim the Max Ziel Tournament title tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. when they square off with the winner of the Oswego St. and Wells game that takes place later this afternoon.