STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. –Lauren Howell (Quinton, N.J./Sacred Heart) nailed seven 3-pointers and matched a career-high 23 to lead Mount St. Mary's past Wagner 77-61 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Monday. With the win, the Mount clinches its 20th-straight league tournament appearance.

Howell , who set her career mark last year at the Spiro Center with 20 of her 23 points in the second half, had an encore performance on the evening. Howell once again scored 20 of 23 points in the final stanza. The sophomore finished 8 of 10 from the floor on the night and 7 of 9 from behind the arc along with a career-high five rebounds. Howell has converted 14 of 16 on the floor from behind the arc in Staten Island in her first two games.

Leah Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland/Holy Faith Secondary) added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Mountaineers (12-15, 7-10 NEC) while Hassanah Oliver (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) added 12 points, and Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) narrowly missed her fourth double-double of the year with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Kelly Clark paced the Seahawks (7-20, 3-13 NEC) with 12 points and eight rebounds. Andrea Reed registered 12 points and John'a Poole chipped in 10 points in the loss.

Mount St. Mary's took the lead for good midway through the first half but after Wagner made a run to cut it to one point the Mount relied on its best 3-pointer shooter to fuel a run and earn its 20-straight NEC Tournament berth.

With the score tied at 14, the Mountaineers rolled off three-straight baskets to grab a 20-14 advantage, a lead it would not relinquish. Dunn scored two baskets sandwiched in between a Brianna Gauthier (Severna Park, Md./St. Mary's) basket in a span of one minute and eight seconds.

The Mount maintained a six-point margin with 6:06 remaining before the Seahawks went on a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 29-27 with 1:38 remaining in the stanza. Reed and Poole each had five points in the surge.

After Oliver and Ashley Olsen traded baskets, Westbrooks scored in the paint with 0.8 ticks on the clock to give the Mountaineers a 33-29 margin going into the locker room. Westbrooks paced the Mount in the half with 12 points, thanks to hitting 8 of 8 at the foul line and also grabbed seven rebounds.

At the start of the second half, Stokes and Clark helped cut the deficit to 40-39 with a 10-5 run with 16:16 left in the contest. Stokes nailed two 3-pointers and Clark added two baskets in the span.

Mount St. Mary's then took control of the game thanks to the hot shooting of Howell. The Mount went on a 20-3 spurt to grab a 60-42 advantage. Howell started the run with a 3-pointer at the 16 minute mark before Clark answered with a layup at 15:12.

Howell then hit a trey at 14:15, Oliver scored on a layup at 13:58 and Howell drilled another 3-pointer at 13:18 for a 51-41 lead. Oliver and Clark traded a free throw before Howell hit a step-back 3-pointer at 11:12 and Gauthier joined the 3-parade with one of her own at 9:45 and then the senior hit a jumper at 9:02 for a 60-42 margin.

Wagner cut the deficit to 64-49 with 6:43 on the clock, but Howell started a 7-0 run with her seventh triple of the night at 5:59 to give the Mount a 71-49 advantage and the Seahawks would get no closer the rest of the way.

Howell tied Myriam Baccouche for the fastest to 100 3-pointers by accomplishing the feat in 56 games and has the most 3-pointers in the first two years in program history with 105 treys, moving into fifth place on the all-time career list. Her seven treys are the fourth-best mark in program history, one of the program record.

Mount St. Mary's plays its final NEC regular season game of the year at Robert Morris on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m.