OLD WESTBURY, NY (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) - The SUNY College at Old Westbury women's basketball team battled Skyline Conference leader Mount Saint Mary Knights on Thursday evening from the Clark Athletic Center.   The Knights scored 28 points off of 34 Panthers' turnovers en-route to their 47-36 victory over the Panthers.    Mount Saint Mary (13-7) improves to 10-1 in league play while the Panthers (12-8) drop to 7-4 in conference action.

Rachel Perrone, Lauren Romao, and Becky Metzger scored in double-figures to lead the Knights.   Perrone and Romao shared game-highs with 12-points and Metzger recorded 10 points.   Perrone also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.  

DeAndra Scott was the high woman for the Panthers as she also recorded a game-high with 12 points, on 4-of-8 accuracy from the floor and snatched a game-high 13 rebounds to record her fifth straight double-double.   Also for the Panthers, Raven Pentz had eight points, converting on 3-of- 8 attempts from the field and Raven Price pulled down 10 rebounds.

Both teams struggled scoring in the first stanza as neither team shot over 26-percent from the field.  Old Westbury sizzled out of the opening gate as Scott scored four of her 12 points and a made three-pointer by Clarissa Gallagher gave the Panthers a 7-3 edge with 15:07 left.   From that juncture, the Panthers' shooting woes percolated as they missed their next 10 shots from the perimeter.   Abigail Williams broke the skid with a made jumper at the 2:38 mark, slicing the Mount Saint Mary's lead to 16-11.   Trailing by four, (7-3), the Knights went on a 12-1 spurt with 10:29 left on the scoreboard.   Perrone made consecutive jumpers to knot the game at 7-7 and a Metzger trey gave the conference leaders a four-point cushion.   During the 12-1 Knights run, Old Westbury committed seven turnovers.    Perrone's jumper in the paint at the 4:44 mark broke a combined 0-for-18 shooting drought that lasted just above six minutes, giving Mount Saint Mary a 14-8 lead.    Old Westbury turned the ball over with under 40 seconds left in the first and Romao made a trey to give the visitors an eight-point lead at the half.

Romao's triple with 12:12 remaining stretched the Knights' lead to nine, 25-16.  The Panthers trimmed the deficit to four with 9:57 on the clock, 25-21, on a Chloe Mellon layup that was assisted by Brittany Mitchell.  On the next Knights possession, Metzger scored three points and a Natalie Candarelli layup with 8:27 to play that gave Mount Saint Mary a 32-21 lead.   Pentz and Scott pushed the Panthers to one final surge as the duo combined to score Old Westbury's next eight points, trimming the Mount Saint Mary lead to three, 32-29, with 4:08 left.  The Knights answered with a three-pointer on their following trip up the court that punctuated the Panthers second half comeback.

ST. JOSEPH'S-BROOKLYN BEARS UP NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS: Old Westbury returns to the hardwood on Tuesday (February 5) in a non-conference road matchup against The St. Joseph's-Brooklyn Bears in Brooklyn, New York.  Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. from Brooklyn Technical High School.  

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