EMMITSBURG, Md. (Jan. 4, 2020) - The Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team improved to 2-0 in the Northeast Conference as they defeated the Long Island Sharks, 75-57, Saturday in Knott Arena. 

The Mountaineers shot 40.7 percent from the field, and held the Sharks to 32.3 percent while forcing 24 turnovers. 13 of those turnovers were linked to steals - the Mountaineers' second-highest total of the season. The Mount improves to 6-0 when shooting more than 40 percent from the field. 

"We capitalized with 29 points off turnovers." Head Coach Maria Marchesano said. "We've gotten a lot better on that, and it was a huge part of our win. We also scored in spurts and that killed their mojo, so anytime they started to make a comeback, we made another run.  

Michaela Harrison and Jatarrikah Settle led the way for the Mountaineers (7-7, 2-0 NEC). Harrison - who had 31 the last time she played LIU - tallied 25 on Saturday, going 9-of-16 from the field. Settle picked up her sixth career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assists and four steals. Aryna Taylor also reached double figures with 10 points. 

"This was a team win." Harrison said. "My teammates did great feeding me the ball. Coach Antoine [White] told us to put them away from the jump, and defense will help us win a lot of games. We got a lot of easy buckets and transition points, and starting 2-0 is going to boost our confidence." 

Long Island (1-11, 0-1 NEC) received 25 points from Brandy Thomas and a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds from Kiara Bell. 

The Mount took control of the game in the final moments of the second quarter. After building up a small four point lead, Mount surged on a 10-0 run to close out the half, with Harrison and Settle combining for seven points. Rebecca Lee and Taylor Addison supplemented with free throws down the stretch. The run would extend for two more points in the second half before the Sharks could score. 

Just like the previous game with Wagner, the Mountaineers went cold from the floor on offense. But they maintained their composure defensively and LIU was unable to capitalize. Despite missing 11 of 12, Mount used free throws to keep their advantage. Clutch baskets by Harrison and Bridget Birkhead extended the lead to 22 by the end of the third quarter. 

A triple by Harrison with six minutes remaining put the Mount up 24 for the largest lead of the night. LIU could not get closer than 16 points the rest of the way, and the Mountaineers' exclaimation point came at the end with a steal and fast break layup by Mikayla Watkinson. 

Mount travels to New England next weekend, facing Bryant in Rhode Island Saturday (Jan. 11) and Merrimack in Massachusetts Monday (Jan. 13). A victory over the Bryant Bulldogs would mark the Mountaineers' first 3-0 NEC start since the 2005-06 season.