Albany, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team dropped a hard fought Skyline Conference decision on the road at Sage on Friday night by a score of 68-66. Senior guard Tanisha Montague (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led four Dolphins in double-figures with 14 points.
 
Mount Saint Vincent got off to a slow start in the game and found itself down 13-6 following a Megan Bowman free-throw with 14:01 left in the first half. The Dolphins rallied with the next seven points to tie the score on a Montague jumper with 12:34 left before the break, but would not grab the lead until Montague pushed them in front 19-18 with just under 11 minutes left before the break.
 
The Montague bucket was part of a 16-5 spurt for Mount Saint Vincent that gave it a 22-18 on a Montague triple with 9:33 to play before the intermission. After the Montague three-pointer, the Gators closed the half on a 23-11 run to take a 41-33 advantage into the halftime intermission.
 
Both teams struggled from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, with Sage shooting 33.3-percent and the Dolphins converting at a 36.8-percent rate. Each team made three triples in the half, but the Gators outscored the Dolphins 18-2 at the free-throw line.
 
Sage would maintain its lead after halftime until Mount Saint Vincent knotted the score at 44-44 on a Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) lay-in with 14:29 to play in regulation. Desiree Rosa (Dumont, N.J.) got the Mount back in front with a three-pointer as part of a 14-0 run capped by a Montague lay-in with just over 12 minutes to play in the game.
 
Christina Barone (Staten Island, N.Y.) put the Mount back in front by eight with 3:13 remaining in the game, but the Dolphins would manage just one more point the remainder of the night.
 
Sage started a an 11-1 closing run with an Amie Jefferson bucket with 2:59 to play in the game and capped it with a Bowman conversion with four ticks left on the clock. The only Mount Saint Vincent point over the final 3:13 came on a Montague free-throw with 2:41 showing on the clock.
 
Mount Saint Vincent shot 47.8-percent from the floor in the second half, but could not overcome the eight point halftime deficit. Jefferson led the Gators after the break with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting and a 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line.
 
Mount Saint Vincent was outrebounded in the game 53-36, including 22-9 on the offensive glass. Sage turned their 22 offensive rebounds into a 20-4 advantage in second chance points.
 
Sage was held to 30.6-percent shooting by the Mount Saint Vincent defense but converted 27 free-throws compared to 10 for the Dolphins. Mount Saint Vincent finished the game 10-for-20 from the free-throw line compared to 27-for-38 shooting from the stripe for Sage.
 
Montague came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the floor. She added three assists and a steal. Fraser added 12 points but failed to record a double-double for the first time since January 11 after grabbing five rebounds.
 
Barone posted a double-double for the Dolphins with 10 points and 10 assists with Theresa Carey (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) adding 10 points and three steals for the Mount.
 
Jefferson posted a game-high 16 points for the Gators with Bowman finishing with 14 points. Lea McClain totaled 13 points for Sage and handed out five assists.
 
Friday's loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 17-7 overall on the season and to 9-4 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will close out the regular season on Sunday when they travel to Farmingdale State. Tip-off with the Rams is set for 1:00 p.m.

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