EMMITSBURG, Md. (Jan. 20, 2020) - Mount St. Mary's found scoring runs at the right time to take down St. Francis Brooklyn, 69-60, Monday afternoon at Knott Arena. With the victory, Mount (10-8, 5-1 NEC) earns their best start in Northeast Conference play in 20 years and catapults into second place in the conference standings. 

"Early in the game, we settled for three's." Coach Maria Marchesano said. "But thankfully we made enough and got hot in the second half. February is going to be tough, so we're happy that we're off to a good start." 

Bridget Birkhead registered four treys in the first half to lead the team with 16 points. Michaela Harrison reached double figures with 13 points, along with Taylor Addison who had 10. Kayla Agentowicz led in rebounds with eight, tying a career high, and Jatarrikah Settle earned a season-high six assists. 

"It was great having teammates crash and find me, and I found open shots." Birkhead said. "We're finally coming together. This is our time and we have good experience on this team. We're happy to be where we are." 

The Mountaineers almost led wire-to-wire, only surrendering a brief one point lead to the Terriers in the second quarter. 

Ally Lassen led all scorers with 27 points, and contributed seven rebounds to the Terriers' (5-12, 1-5 NEC) cause. 

Three point shooting helped the Mount establish an early lead. Agentowicz got it started with a triple on the first possession of the game, and Birkhead contributed six points off a pair. The Mountaineers attacked to the paint to build their advantage as high as 10, but the Terriers chipped away to make it seven heading into the second quarter. 

St. Francis Brooklyn used that sliver of momentum to storm out to an 8-0 run. A layup from Jesse Jordan gave the Terriers a 21-20 lead at the 6:52 mark. Mount responded with a 10-0 run, capped off by two more Birkhead triples. Both teams traded back-and-forth from there, with St. Francis using free throws and Harrison earning a personal 5-0 run to conclude the half. The Mountaineers took a 35-28 edge into halftime. 

Mount started the second half sloppy, with three turnovers on three possessions. The Terriers capitalized with a 4-0 run before Rebecca Lee chimed in with two buckets in the paint. But the ever persistent New Yorkers rallied with a 7-0 run to close the gap to one. Mount rebounded to virtually seal the game with a 12-2 run. Birkhead led the way again with two layups and the Mountaineers took an 11 point lead into the final frame. 

The Mountaineers built the lead as high as 13, then basically coasted to the finish. A 6-0 run by the Terriers that trimmed the Mount's lead down to seven, but that would be as close as they would get. 

Mount St. Mary's closes out their three game homestand with Homecoming against Bryant at 2 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 25).