Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team earned a key Skyline Conference victory on Thursday night with a 79-67 home win over visiting Sage. Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) led five Dolphins in double-figures with 21 points, while Nicole Oliver (Carmel, N.Y.) matched her career-high with 10 points.
Mount Saint Vincent never trailed in the game and ran out to a quick 8-0 lead in the opening 2:22 of play. The lead would grow to 24-7 on a Fraser lay-in at the midway point of the half, as the Mount held the Gators to a 2-for-15 effort from the floor over the first 9:23 of the game. The Dolphins were 10-for-21 over that same stretch, with Fraser leading the way with nine points.
Sage would get back to within seven points with a quick 10-0 spurt over 2:23 to slice its deficit to 24-17 on a Jackie Leslie triple with 8:12 left in the first half. Sage went 3-for-4 from the field and converted three free-throws to get its deficit under double-figures. Sophomore Sara Tironi (Cambridge, NY/Cambridge Central) led the charge with seven of the Gators' 10 points in the run.
Daniela Arias (Woodside, N.Y.) ended the scoring drought for the Dolphins with a conversion to get the Mount's lead back to 26-17 and Brittany Lee (Newton, N.J.) converted a layup at the 5:50 mark on the fast break to push the Dolphins' lead back to double-figures at 28-17.
The Mount would allow the Gators as close as eight points over the final 4:16 of the half, before a Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, N.Y.) bucket in the final half minute sent Mount Saint Vincent to the locker room with a 39-28 halftime lead.
Mount Saint Vincent shot 40.5-percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, going 15-for-37, and converted eight of its 10 free-throws. The Dolphins dominated the paint, outscoring Sage 26-12 inside and 10-2 on the fast break. Fraser led eight different scorers for the Dolphins with nine points, while Christina Barone (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored eight points and handed out seven assists before halftime.
The Dolphins put together a 12-4 spurt to open the second half on Wednesday to spread its lead out to 51-32 on a Brittany Carroll (Staten Island, N.Y.) jumper 5:11 into the second stanza. The advantage would balloon to a game-high 22 points on a pair of Montague free-throws at the 9:28 mark of the second half and the Dolphins would not let the visitors closer than 11 the rest of the night.
The Mount finished the game shooting just under 41-percent from the floor and made 20 free-throws, the third time it has converted at least 20 in a game this season. The Dolphins finished the night with a 46-28 advantage in paint points and a 12-9 edge in second chance scoring.
Fraser rounded out her 11th double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the floor and a 7-for-10 effort from the free-throw line. She hauled in 12 rebounds and blocked a shot for the Dolphins.
Lee closed out her fourth double-double of the season with a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with 11 points. She went 5-for-10 from the floor and handed out three assists. Barone scored in double-figures for the ninth time this season with 11 points and added six rebounds and matched the game-high with eight assists.
Montague and Oliver combined for 21 of the team's 27 bench points on Thursday, with Montague scoring 11 points and handing out a pair of helpers. Oliver matched her career mark for scoring on 3-for-6 shooting and a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line. She added seven rebounds to the winning effort.
Sage was paced by 15 points each from Tironi and junior guard Megan Bowman (Dannemora, NY/Saranac). Tironi secured seven rebounds for the Gators and Bowman handed out eight assists. Rookie Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) came off the bench to post a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
With Thursday's win, Mount Saint Vincent improves to 12-4 overall on the season and to 5-2 in Skyline Conference play. Sage falls to 10-7 overall and 5-2 in the league. The Gators return to action on Saturday, February 1 for a game at St. Joseph's College (LI) at 2 p.m.