Riverdale, N.Y. – Junior Desiree Rosa (Dumont, N.J.) led three College of Mount Saint Vincent players in double figures with 16 points and the Dolphins used a 47 point second half to earn a hard fought 64-57 non-conference win over visiting St. Joseph's-Brooklyn on Monday night.
Despite shooting 13.2-percent in the opening period, the Dolphins found themselves trailing by only two points heading into halftime. The Mount led twice in the half for a total of 34 seconds in trialing 19-17 at the break.
Coming out of halftime, the Dolphins scored the first seven points of the second half, including a three-point play from Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) to push them in front by five with 18:55 left in regulation.
Although the Dolphins could not sustain a lead in the first 20 minutes on Monday, the opening spurt in the second half gave the team a lead it would not give back the rest of the night. Over the first half of the second stanza, the Mount outscored St. Joseph's 25-10 and used a jumper from Andrea Sinaly (Middle Village, N.Y.) with 10:29 left to play to build its largest lead of the night at 13 points.
Mount Saint Vincent would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the period, but the Lady Bears put together a 19-10 spurt over a stretch of just under seven minutes to slice its deficit to two points with two minutes left to play. Mount Saint Vincent would answer with three-point field goals from Rosa and Shannon Koch (Kings Park, N.Y.) to extend its lead with just over a minute to play.
After shooting just over 13-percent in the opening frame, the Dolphins converted on just over 54-percent of its chances in the second half. The Mount also drained five three-point field goals in the second half, including a 4-for-6 effort from Rosa after the break.
Rosa finished the night with a season-high 16 points after going 5-for-10 from the field overall and 4-for-7 from distance. She also matched the game-high with five assists and swiped a pair of steals.
After not scoring in the first half, Fraser finished the night with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting and also grabbed five boards. She added two blocks for the Mount, giving her a team-high 10 on the season.
Koch continued her steady play for the Mount on Monday and poured in 14 point to go along with five caroms. Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, N.Y.) handed out five assists, while Sinaly equaled the game-high with four steals along with eight rebounds.
The Lady Bears were held to just 36.5-percent shooting on the night, but received a game-high 18 points from Kristin D'Chiutiis. Megan Moran led all players with 11 rebounds and Teresa Mangan and Taylor Raccuglia totaled four steals.
Mount Saint Vincent finished the night dominating in two key categories, posting a 27-9 edge in points off of turnovers and a 18-8 advantage in second chance points after pulling down 19 offensive rebounds.
The win evens Mount Saint Vincent's overall record at 2-2 on the season. The Dolphins will be off until Thursday night when they travel to league rival Mount Saint Mary. Tip-off with the Knights is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.