(New York, NY) - The first games of 2007 for the Mount Saint Vincent Men's & Women's Basketball teams proved to be quite a challenge for the Dolphins on Tuesday afternoon as Mount Saint Vincent lost both ends of a doubleheader to national powerhouse NYU as the Men's team opened play with an 86-47 loss, while the Women's team fell 75-33. The twin-bill marked the beginning of a crucial stretch of games for both teams as an important series of Conference games are right around the corner.
The Men's team opened play against a physically dominant Violet squad as NYU (10-0) jumped out to a 20-9 lead during the first six minutes of play, and extended the lead to 47-19 at halftime. The second half of play was a different story as the Dolphins turned their play up a notch, thanks to the efforts of junior Derek Charlton (Yonkers, NY/St. Raymond's), who scored 15 of his game-high 21 points and pulled down seven of his team-high 10 rebounds during the final 20 minutes. The double-double was Charlton's second of the 2006-07 season. However, no other Dolphin scored more than eight points as the Mount shot only 30% from the floor, including a 2 for 13 performance from three-point range. NYU also enjoyed a 51-34 rebounding advantage and scored 32 points off turnovers compared to Mount Saint Vincent's eight. With their seventh straight loss, Mount Saint Vincent falls to 1-8.
Moments after the Men's game came to a disappointing conclusion, the Women's game saw an eerily similar turn of events as an early 25-2 run for NYU (10-0) gave the Violets a 25-5 lead, and the nation's 16th ranked team never looked back. NYU led 37-13 at halftime as Mount Saint Vincent shot a season-low 14% from the floor during the first 20 minutes. The Dolphins picked up steam during the second half, but were unable to make up an insurmountable deficit against a team considered a contender for the 2007 Division III National Championship. Freshman Lauren Percodani (Staten Island, NY/St. Joesph by the Sea) led the Dolphins with nine points, while fellow freshman Katie Hannon (Bronx, NY/St. Barnabas) enjoyed her finest game of the season, scoring a season-high six points and playing a tremendous all-around game. However, the Mount could never get into a rhythm on the offensive half of the court, shooting 22% for the game while converting only two of 20 three-point attempts.
The Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team returns to action this weekend when they travel to Union College for the Sig Makofski Tournament as the Dolphins face host Union on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. and will play either Bates College or Elms College on Saturday. The Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team will not play another non-conference game this season and gets right back into Skyline Conference play on Monday when they travel to USMMA-Kings Point for a 7:00 p.m. game with a Kings Point team that is currently tied for first place in Skyline Conference play.
