Albany, NY— The Sage College's women's basketball team hosted the Knights of Mt. St. Mary College on Tuesday night in Kahl Gym in a Skyline Conference contest. Sage needed overtime, but collected the 62-58 win over time to collect the team's 11th straight victory. Sage improves to 12-2 overall and remains unbeaten in the league with a 8-0 record. MSMC falls to 5-9 overall and 3-4 in the league.
Heading into the half Sage used a layup by rookie Kaitlin Bowman (Dannemora, NY/Saranac) and a steal off the play with a layup as time expired by junior guard Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) to cut the Knights lead to just two, down 25-23 at the half.
Rookie Macie Holmes (Amsterdam, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy) collected nine first half points as she hit 3-of-4 from three point range and helped the Gators combine for a 5-11 effort for the first half. Pearson, this week's Skyline Women's Basketball Player of the Week, tallied eight first half points, while adding two three-pointers for the Gators.
MSMC's offense was balanced as all nine players that played in the first half scored, while sophomore forward Jessica Rini (Seaford, NY/Seaford), rookie guard Megan Kerutis (Merrimack, NH/Bishop Guertin), and sophomore guard Janae Graham (Orange, CT/Amity Regional) all had four first half points. Rookie center Kayla Cleare (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) added seven first half rebounds and two blocks to the effort as the Knights held a 27-20 edge on the boards at the intermission.
In the second half there were 10 ties and the game went to overtime with the score knotted at 53. Sage's Holmes finished the night with a career-best 18 points as she made five three-pointers and made 6-of-9 shots from the floor. Rookie Emily Parslow Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) did not hit a single shot in regulation, but hit her first basket in the overtime with a clutch three-pointer to give Sage a 57-55 lead with 2:57 left. She hit the final points of the game making a pair of free throws to seal the win for Sage.
Pearson finished with 15 points, while sophomore forward Gen Schoff (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) tallied a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds with two blocks. Schoff, the team's leading scorer has tallied double-digits in 12 of the team's 14 games. Junior Krystyn Knockwood (Troy, NY/Troy) had a personal-best six blocked shots, elevating her career resume to move to the No. 3 spot with her 63 career blocked shots.
MSMC's Graham finished with 13 points, while Kerutis and Rini added 11 points each. Cleare finished with 13 points and two blocks for the Knights. Rookie forward Elizabeth Limonta (Stewart Manor, NY/St. Mary's) added 10 rebounds with seven points and a block as the Knights had five blocked shots in the contest.
Sage returns to action on January 16 travelling to Farmingdale State College for a 1 p.m. Skyline Conference contest.