BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Leah Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland/Holy Faith Secondary School) scored 14 points to lead Mount St. Mary's past St. Francis (N.Y.) 59-50 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Saturday.

Westbrooks converted 6 of 11 from the field and 2 of 3 from the free throw line while adding six rebounds and three assists.

Hassanah Oliver (Hillside, N.Y./Hillside) added 12 points for the Mount (6-7, 1-3 NEC) while Brianna Gauthier (Severna Park, Md./St. Mary's) chipped in 11 points and Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) tallied six points and 10 rebounds in the winning effort.

Kara Ayers paced the Terriers (2-12, 1-3 NEC) with 22 points and Kendra Williams registered 11 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Mount St. Mary's took the lead in the closing seconds of the first half and held on to end a two-game losing streak against St. Francis (N.Y.). The Mountaineers won the first 36 meetings in the series against the Terriers before the Brooklyn program swept the series last year.

The Mount used a strong run to end the half and continued that success in the second half.

Gauthier capped a 21-10 run to end the half after nailing a 3-pointer as time expired in the first stanza to hand the Mount a 27-26 advantage going into the locker room.

The Mount started the second half right where Gauthier left off the first by scoring nine of the first 11 points of the stanza to grab a 36-28 advantage. Oliver started the surge with a layup before Gauthier nailed her third 3-pointer of the afternoon at 18:13 for a 32-26 lead. After Ayers hit a jumper, Westbrooks and Oliver both scored in the paint. Melissa Weitman then drained a 3-pointer for the Terriers only to see Howell, Oliver and Dunn scored six consecutive for a 42-31 advantage at 11:12.

St. Francis (N.Y.) cut the margin to five points at 9:25 and six points at 4:06, but each time Westbrooks was there to answer for Mount St. Mary's with a basket. Williams gave St. Francis (N.Y.) on more chance with consecutive layups to cut the margin to 51-46 with 1:42 on the clock, but Howell nailed a 3-pointer at 1:20 and the Terriers could get no closer the rest of the way.

With the Terriers holding a 16-6 margin at the 12 minute mark, Oliver started the surge with a layup at 11:19. After Deanna Petrucci hit the first of two free throws at 10:59, Dunn and Westbrooks both scored in the paint to cut the margin to five points with 8:55 on the clock.

Williams then hit the first of two at the line at 8:40 before Lauren Howell (Quinton, N.J./Sacred Heart) hit a jumper and Courtney Nyce nailed the second free throw at 6:13 to trim the deficit to 18-15.

Ayers and Gauthier traded baskets from behind the arc before Williams scored in the paint at 5:03 to reclaim a five-point advantage.

Mount St. Mary's then scored three-straight baskets after Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) connected on two jumpers and Nyce hit a jumper at 1:52 to hand the Mount its first lead since holding a 6-2 edge two minutes and 23 seconds into the contest.

Weitman then drilled a 3-ball with 26 ticks on the clock to hand St. Francis (N.Y.) a 26-24 lead only to see Gauthier nail a 3-pointer of her own as time expired to give Mount St. Mary's the lead at the break.

Prior to the Mount's 21-10 run to conclude the half, Ayers keyed 12-straight points from the Terriers with seven points in a span of four minutes and six seconds to open up a 10-point margin before the Mount battled back.

Gauthier became the 27th player in program history to reach 900 points and now stands at 908 in 26th place. Howell finished with nine points to help Mount St. Mary's end a three-game skid.

The Mountaineers return to the hardwood on Monday at Knott Arena against Fairleigh Dickinson. Game time is 7 p.m.