Emmitsburg, Md. (February 24, 2014) – Senior Sydney Henderson scored a game-high 25 points and junior Jenn Carney added 22 off the bench to give the Mount women's basketball team a 97-80 win over Saint Francis U on Monday night at Knott Arena. The win helps the Mount secure a home playoff game in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

With the victory over third-place Saint Francis (11-16, 9-7 NEC) the Mount (17-11, 12-4) is guaranteed at least second place in the final regular season standings. The Mount has now won seven games in a row for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.  

The 97 points scored by the Mount are the most in Head Coach Bryan Whitten's seven-year tenure and the most in a single game since putting up 100 versus Monmouth in a triple overtime loss on Jan. 31, 2004. The last time the Mount scored 97 or more in a regulation non-overtime game was Nov. 23, 1997 in a 100-84 home win over Radford.  

 The Mount shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field on 32-of-56 shooting, including 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) in the second half. The Mountaineers also racked up 23 steals, tying for the seventh-most in a game in school history. Individually, Ashley Christie recorded a career-high eight steals to go with nine assists and 16 points.

In the first half, Henderson scored six points in a row to give the Mount a one-point advantage at 19-18 with 10 minutes to go before halftime. Henderson capped a 10-0 stretch with a pair of free throws for a 25-18 lead.

Alli Williams, who led the Red Flash with 22 points and eight rebounds, cut the Mount's lead to 32-30 with a free throw with 2:47 left on the first-half clock. At the end of the first half, freshman Kaitlyn Eisenhard scored five of the Mount's final seven points, including a layup and free throw with 1:14 left to help the Mount to a 38-34 halftime advantage.

Saint Francis cut into the lead and was down 54-51 with 14:21 remaining. The Mount, which shot 0-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc in the first half, connected on 7-of-13 from distance in the final 20 minutes to pull away.

The Mount quickly grew its lead to 66-44 on one of Jessie Kaufman's four three-pointers with 9:28 showing on the clock. The edge moved to 20 with just under four minutes left on Kayla Grossett's layup.

In a game that featured a combined 51 fouls, the Mount made 26-of-32 free throws (81.2 percent) compared to SFU's 15-of-25 (60.0 percent) shooting at the line.

Playing at Knott Arena for the final time during the regular season, the Mount now has 10 home wins in a season for the second time since Whitten took over before the start of the 2007-08 season.  

The Mount concludes the regular season with games at Wagner on March 1 and at Robert Morris on March 3.

GAME NOTES: The Mount earns a split in the season series with Saint Francis U… The Mount now trails the Red Flash, 29-27, in the all-time series... Kayla Grossett played in her 118th career game, breaking the school record for career games played of 117 held by Mary Dunn '11 and Sandra Andresson '12.