Mount Saint Mary - 53, Farmingdale State - 43

Newburgh, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team fell, 53-43, at Mount Saint Mary College this afternoon in their final regular season game of the season. The Rams finished the regular season at 8-6 in the Skyline Conference and with an overall record of 10-12. The Knights (17-8, 13-1) have clinched the top-seed and have home court advantage for the playoffs.

Tied 15-15 with 8:02 remaining in the first half, a 7-0 Knights run over the next 2:58 put Mount Saint Mary ahead 22-15. A 3-pointer by sophomore guard Christina Merrill (Levittown, N.Y.) and a layup by senior guard Nikita Green (Roosevelt, N.Y.) cut the Farmingdale State deficit to 24-22 with 1:02 left in the half. The Knights took a 26-24 lead into halftime.

The Rams took their first lead of the second half on a Green 3-point shot at the 14:07 mark and increased the advantage to five, 35-30, on a Merrill layup. The Knights answered with a 18-3 run to take a 48-38 lead with 4:40 remaining in the game. Junior guard Nicky Young (Queens, N.Y.) connected on a 3-point shot for the Rams with 2:37 left to play, but Mount Saint Mary junior forward Rachel Perrone (Poughquag, N.Y. ) responded with a 3-pointer on the teams next possession to bring the lead back to 10. The Knights held at least an eight point advantage the remainder of the game en route to the victory.

Young led all scorers with 18 points and added seven rebounds, while Green and Merrill each had eight points for Farmingdale State.

Perrone scored a team-high 17 points and sophomore forward Natalie Candarelli (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) tallied 12 points for the Knights.

Farmingdale State has clinched the #4 seed for the playoffs and will travel back to top-seeded Mount Saint Mary for the semifinals on Thursday, February 21st at a time to determined.

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