BROOKLYN, N.Y. -Long Island defeated Mount St. Mary's 59-48 in Northeast Conference (NEC) women's basketball action on Saturday.

Selina Mann (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield) paced the Mount (7-11, 3-5 NEC) with 10 points. Jamie Halloran (Blue Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) and Mary Dunn (Whippany, N.J./Morris Catholic) each added nine points in the loss.

Ashley Palmer fueled the Blackbirds (12-7, 6-2 NEC) with 21 points and 19 rebounds. Heidi Mothershead added 11 points and Chelsi Johnson chipped in 10 points in the winning effort.

Similar to the meeting one week ago, Long Island jumped out to the advantage at halftime and withstood a second-half rally attempt by Mount St. Mary's and held on to complete the season sweep.

Despite trailing by 13 points in the second half, Mount St. Mary's rallied to make it a one-point game with 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Mount went on a 17-4 run to trim the deficit to 44-43 at the 10:12 mark.

Down 40-27, Dunn started the rally with a traditional 3-point play at the 16:25 mark. After Krystal Wells hit the frontend of two free throws at 15:55, Cassie Cooke (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) scored to make the deficit nine points 13 seconds later. Mann then scored three-straight points to trim the margin to 41-35 with 13:29 on the clock.

Palmer momentarily halted the surge with a layup at 13:09 before Mann hit the backend of two charity tosses at 12:44 and Sydney Henderson (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) nailed a 3-pointer at 12:10 to trim the margin to 43-39. After Palmer hit 1 of 2 at the line, Henderson scored in the lane and Halloran drained a pair at the line to cut the score to 44-43 with 10:12 on the clock.

Palmer then started a 9-0 run with a layup at 8:58 to help the Blackbirds reclaim a 53-43 advantage with 4:32 remaining. Palmer fueled the run with five points.

Lauren Howell (Quinton, N.J./Sacred Heart) answered with a 3-pointer at 4:20 and Sandra Andresson (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) scored in the lane at 3:14 to trim the margin to 53-48. Long Island then scored the final six points to earn the season sweep.

Long Island jumped out to a 15-4 advantage in the first eight minutes of the game. After Palmer and Cooke traded layups, the Blackbirds scored the next seven points. Palmer nailed a jumper to start the surge at 15:56 before Kiara Evans scored in the lane and Mothershead nailed a 3-pointer at 15:05 for a 9-7 lead.

Hassanah Oliver (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) scored in the lane to momentarily halt the Long Island run, but the Blackbirds scored the next six points to grab an 11-point margin. After Johnson converted two charity tosses at 13:24, Palmer and Evans each scored in the lane to cap the run at 12:13 for a 15-4 advantage.

Long Island extended its lead to 13 points before the Mountaineers rolled off six-straight points to cut the deficit to 26-19 with 4:41 on the clock. Tara Lonergan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) started the spurt with a layup at 6:24 before Dunn scored two baskets in the lane to cap the run at 4:09.

Johnson answered for the Blackbirds with a layup and two free throws to restore a double-digit margin at 30-19 with 3:41 left. Mann had two baskets for Mount St. Mary's sandwiched in between a Palmer layup to cut the margin to 32-23 with 2:12 on the clock. Palmer closed the stanza by hitting 1 of 4 at the line to give Long Island a 33-23 lead going into the locker room.

Long Island grabbed a 13-point lead again in the second half before the Mountaineers rallied to trim the margin to one point. Fueled by Palmer, the Blackbirds held on to the lead to go on for the win and deny Mount St. Mary's head coach Bryan Whitten his 250th career victory.

Halloran, who came into the game with eight career points, posted seven points and four rebounds in the first half. The Mount freshman recorded 17 of the 23 points scored in the opening stanza.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Thursday at Knott Arena against Sacred Heart. Game time is 5 p.m.