Riverdale, N.Y. – After falling on the road in double overtime at St. Joseph's-L.I. on December 1, the College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team was dealt another heartbreaking defeat in extra time on Tuesday at the hands of the Golden Eagles by a score of 64-62. Sophomore Desiree Rosa (Dumont, N.J.) continued her strong recent play with a team-high 14 points.
 
After falling behind 11-7 in the first seven minutes of action on Tuesday, the Dolphins responded with a 23-8 run to close the first half and carry a 30-19 advantage into the locker room at the half.
 
The Mount Saint Vincent defense had a strong opening period and allowed the visitors to shoot just 15.2-percent from the field. The Golden Eagles also shot just 50-percent from the free-throw line and only managed eight points the final 13 minutes of action in the first.
 
The Dolphins shot just 29.4-percent in the first half, but doubled up St. Joseph's in conversions and knocked down a pair of three-pointers, both from Rosa.
 
Coming out of the half, Mount Saint Vincent maintained its lead and pushed the advantage back into double-figures at 10 points after an Andrea Sinaly (Middle Village, N.Y.) bucket with 9:39 to play in regulation.
 
Following the Sinaly conversions, Mount Saint Vincent would suffer a nearly six minute stretch where it would only score two points. Although the Golden Eagles would not take full advantage of the scoring drought, they would whittle the deficit down to 52-47 with just over a minute left.
 
Coming down the stretch, the Dolphins would struggle from the free-throw line and miss three crucial chances from the stripe over the final two minutes of regulation. St. Joseph's would use the Mount's struggles to its advantage and get a lay-in from Nicole Redding with 28 seconds left to get to within three and a three-pointer from Laura Cohen with nine ticks left to knot the score at 52-52.
 
The Golden Eagles used 12 points off of turnovers in the second half to come-from-behind and 14 points in the paint. The Dolphins went just 1-for-5 from the charity stripe in the second half and overtime and turned the ball over 19 times.
 
St. Joseph's used a fast 5-0 run to open a quick lead in the extra session and would not look back. The Golden Eagles would lead by as many as seven in the overtime period, but the Mount made one last run keyed by four points from Sarah Kluth (Lynbrook, N.Y.) to get to within a single point with 22 seconds left.
 
Redding would convert one of two free-throws in the final 13 seconds and Rosa would have a shot roll off the rim at the horn to keep Mount Saint Vincent from its second straight conference victory.
 
Rosa finished the game with a season-high 14 points after knocking in three triples. She also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out an assist. Kluth finished up with eight points and five boards to go along with five assists and a team-high four steals.
 
McNish totaled her second straight double-double for the Mount after scoring 13 points and hauling in 19 caroms. Sinaly wrapped up the night with eight points and Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, N.Y.) handed out a game and career-high six assists.
 
St. Joseph's was paced by 17 points from Amanda Bender and a double-double consisting of 10 points and 10 rebounds from Redding. The Golden Eagles closed the night with 21 steals and turned 31 Mount Saint Vincent turnovers into 20 points.
 
Tuesday's result sends Mount Saint Vincent to 4-9 overall and to 1-5 in league play. The Dolphins will hit the road to play at Sage on Thursday. Tip-off in Troy with the Gators is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.