Box Score Albany, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Women's Basketball team was outlasted by Sage on Saturday in the Skyline Conference Championship Game, falling in the title tilt 61-55. Junior Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the Dolphins with 15 points, while freshman Brittany Carroll (Staten Island, N.Y.) added 12 points.
 
The game was tightly contested throughout and featured five ties and nine lead changes. Neither team held a lead larger than seven points, with the Gators reaching the game-high advantage on a Megan Bowman bucket with 3:13 left to give Sage a 54-47 lead.
 
Mount Saint Vincent would get off to a good start in the game after scoring the initial five points of the contest. Brittany Lee (Newton, N.J.) hit a three-pointer in the first minute and Fraser followed with a jumper at the 17:35 mark to give the Mount an early 5-0 lead.
 
The Dolphins would match the five point advantage two more times in the first 6:45 of the game, before the Gators used an 11-0 run over 3:23 to pull in front 17-11 with just past the midway point of the first half. Sage went 5-for-5 from the floor in the run and held Mount Saint Vincent to 0-for-7 shooting, including a 0-for-5 mark from three-point distance.
 
Sage would maintain the advantage until Carroll started a quick 7-0 spurt that saw the Dolphins jump in front 22-20 with 5:23 left before halftime. Carroll opened the run with a three-pointer and Andrea Sinaly (Middle Village, N.Y.) capped the spurt with a pair of free-throws.
 
After falling behind 26-24 on an Amie Jefferson bucket with 3:37 remaining in the half, Mount Saint Vincent surged back to a 31-26 lead with the next seven points. Sage answered with four straight tallies to end the half, but Mount Saint Vincent took a slim 31-30 lead into the halftime intermission.
 
Mount Saint Vincent outscored Sage 10-5 off of turnovers, but Sage secured 11 offensive rebounds before the break and translated those into 10 second chance points. Bowman led the Gators with 12 points at the half, while Fraser and Carroll each scored nine for the Dolphins.
 
Coming out of the break, Mount Saint Vincent scored seven of the first nine points to take its largest lead of the game with 16:47 left in regulation. Lee nailed a three-point field goal for the Dolphins and Christina Barone (Staten Island, N.Y.) capped the run with a jumper to move the Mount in front 38-32.
 
The Dolphins would remain in front of the Gators until Jackie Leslie hit a three for Sage to give it a 42-41 lead with 12:02 left to play. Fraser answered with a jumper to give the Dolphins the lead back, but that would be Mount Saint Vincent's last field goal for nearly two minutes.
 
After Sinaly gave the Mount a 45-44 lead with 9:57 left in the game, the Dolphins hit another drought and did not score again until a Fraser conversion with 5:18 to play. Sage would take advantage and move in front 50-45 on a Lea McClain jumper with 5:36 left in the contest.
 
After falling behind by seven with 3:13 to play, Mount Saint Vincent put together an 8-3 spurt to storm back and tie the score at 55-55 with 2:14 remaining on the clock. Barone canned a three for the Dolphins to support the run and a three-point play from Theresa Carey (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) got the Dolphins back to within a point with 2:42 left. After a Bowman free-throw for Sage, Barone tied the score at 55-55 with a jumper at the 2:14 mark.
 
The Barone jumper would be the last score for the Dolphins in the game and Sage converted six of its nine free-throws in the game in the final minute to secure its first league championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Mount Saint Vincent shot 31.3-percent overall after halftime and finished the game converting at a 33.9-percent clip. The Dolphins shot under 30-percent from the three-point line in the game and were outrebounded 54-41 overall and 22-11 on the offensive glass. Sage finished the game with a 14-4 advantage in second chance scoring.
 
Bowman finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting for Sage and added five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Jefferson totaled 11 rebounds for the Gators and chipped in with seven points.
 
Fraser closed out her 21^st double-double of the season with a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with her 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting. She blocked seven shots for the Dolphins and converted half of the team's six makes from the free-throw line.
 
Carroll knocked down four of the team's seven three-pointers on her way to 12 points. Barone narrowly missed a triple-double for the Dolphins after posting seven points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Montague added eight points for the Mount and Carey swiped a team-high three steals.
 
Saturday's loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 18-9 overall. The Dolphins will await a potential ECAC Tournament berth on Monday. Information on a possible postseason game will be posted when it becomes available. 

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