Riverdale, N.Y. – Junior Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) led four College of Mount Saint Vincent players in double-figures with a game-high 28 points and added 15 rebounds as the Dolphins scored an 88-75 non-conference win over Berkeley on Thursday. The win is the fifth straight for the Mount overall and the eighth straight at home to open the season.
Mount Saint Vincent did not trail in Thursday's contest and found itself even with the Knights only once after a Milan Germany conversion knotted the score at 5-5 at the 17:12 mark of the first half. Following the only deadlock of the game, Mount Saint Vincent used a 15-4 spurt over nearly six minutes to move in front 20-9 with 11:17 left before halftime. Fraser netted eight points over that stretch for the Dolphins, who held Berkeley to 2-for-11 shooting.
The Knights would rally with a 12-4 stretch of their own covering just under four minutes to pull to within 24-21 with 7:35 showing on the first half clock. The Dolphins were forced into three turnovers over the run with Janay Thomas leading the charge for Berkeley with six points.
After the Knights got to within three points on a pair of Thomas free-throws, Brittany Carroll (Staten Island, N.Y.) canned a three-pointer to spread the Dolphins' lead back to six points and start a stretch in which the Mount scored 16 of the next 21 points to move in front 40-26 following a three-point play from Fraser with 2:01 left before halftime.
Mount Saint Vincent shot a blistering 52.9-percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes on its way to a 42-33 lead at the break. Fraser scored 13 points to lead all scorers at halftime on 6-for-10 shooting. Brittany Lee (Newton, N.J.) also had a strong half after going 4-for-7 from the floor on her way to eight first half points.
The Dolphins opened the second half with 13 of the first 19 points in the period to pull in front by 16, at 55-39, on a Carroll jumper at the 15:55 mark of the stanza. From there, the Mount would not allow Berkeley closer than nine points until a 16-7 run in the middle stages of the half sliced the Mount Saint Vincent lead to 67-65 on a Patricia Patterson triple with 7:18 left in regulation. The Knights went 7-for-8 from the floor over the run, including 2-for-2 from three-point range.
Following the Patterson triple Mount Saint Vincent would not be able to build its lead past eight points until a Fraser lay-in in the final half minute spread the advantage back to 85-75. The Dolphins were able to seal the win by going a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line over the final 2:12 of regulation.
The Dolphins finished the game shooting a season-best 50.7-percent from the floor overall, going 35-for-69 for the game. 48 of the Mount's points in the contest came in the paint and it outscored Berkeley on the fast break 18-8.
Fraser closed the night 12-for-21 from the floor as she scored better than 20 points in a game for the fifth time this season and for the third time in the last four contests. She has posted a double-double in each of the last five games and has reached double-figures in rebounds 11 times. She posted three assists and three blocks in the win.
Carroll continued her strong rookie season with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including three triples. She added three steals and over the last six games is averaging 17.2 points per outing. Lee added 15 points and 12 rebounds for her third career double-double and Christina Barone (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished with 11 points and seven assists.
Thursday's win pushes Mount Saint Vincent to 11-3 overall on the season and to 8-0 at the Peter Jay Sharp Center. The Dolphins will be back in action at home on Saturday for a Skyline Conference contest with Farmingdale State. Tip-off with the Rams is set for 1:00 p.m.