RALEIGH, N.C. (March 17, 2022) - The spectacular late season run for Mount St. Mary's women's basketball came to an end Thursday evening at the NCAA First Four. A dramatic, spirited comeback fell agonizingly short, and dreams of their first NCAA tournament victory as a Division I program got denied by the Longwood Lancers, 74-70.
 
Winning nine of their last 11 to take the Northeast Conference title, the Mount finishes with a record of 16-13.
 
"First thing that comes to mind is how proud I am of this group and how they fought back." Head Coach Antoine White said. "That first quarter, I think we were caught off guard with how athletic, fast, and quick Longwood is. But credit to our players. They continued to battle, coaches continued to make adjustments and figure this thing out."
 
Playing her ultimate game as a Mountaineer, Kendall Bresee delivered one last thrill. Leading the team, the graduate student supplied 20 points and tied a team high with four assists. Competing for the 127th time in Blue & White – a school record – Kayla Agentowicz added 11 points and two rebounds.
 
Michaela Harrison and Jessica Tomasetti reached double figures as well, each adding 13. Tomasetti tied her career best for rebounding with seven. Jada Lee also matched a career high, contributing four assists.
 
"We didn't have the best first quarter, but after that, we were neck-and-neck with them." Harrison said. "It proved to us we can run with the more athletic teams, the bigger teams. Proved a lot to ourselves and to other people; not to always count the Mount out. We were seven strong and almost beat a very talented team."
 
After shooting 20.7 percent from the floor for the first half, Mount St. Mary's couldn't miss the second half, firing an impressive 70.8 percent (17-for-24). Rebounding was light late thanks to all the makes, but the Mount paced the Lancers in that category as well.
 
Down as much as 22, the Mount did not go away by any stretch of the imagination. Bresee went off in a 5-for-5, 3-for-3 from downtown, and 2-for-2 at the stripe effort, helping the Mount storm back. One of those triples came with 3:02 left to cut it to 15, and Harrison added another to drive the deficit down to 12 by quarter's end. All players rose up to take a stand, with Tess Borgosz sending in a three for the first moments of a comeback to provide a spark.
 
"Going into halftime and talking to my teammates and coaches was a good reset for me." Bresee said. "I came out nervous, I came out rushed and like [coach] said, we haven't seen athleticism or pressure like that in a long time. Being able to recollect, regroup, talk to my teammates and coaches, take a deep breath, and realize it's now or never. That was my mindset in the third quarter." 
 
Feeling the momentum and feeding off the energy brought by the fans who traveled to watch them play, the Mountaineers made a push to keep their season alive. Agentowicz brought the squad within single digits with a trey, then secured a layup to cut it to 57-50 Longwood, forcing a Lancers timeout. Free throws pushed the advantage back into double digits, where it stayed until the final two minutes.
 
Isabella Hunt added foul shots to make it a 66-57 game. With time of the essence, the team had to force turnovers to increase possessions. They found them by drawing illegal screens from Longwood. Tomasetti cashed in on the first with a floater, followed by Agentowicz with a jumper. In a flash, the score stood 69-63 Lancers. Tomasetti continued her scorching hot pace to keep a glimmer of hope, but the Lancers hit foul shots and were able to hang on and advance.
 
The game began with a 13-0 Longwood run to set the tone in the opening minutes. Tall, lanky forward Akila Smith blazed the trail, scoring eight points in the run and 13 in the quarter. Harrison supplied the Mount's first field goal – an and one layup with 3:56 remaining.
 
Mount St. Mary's found stride in the second quarter to setup the comeback, stringing together a run towards the end of the half. Agentowicz led with four points in the frame. Bresee hit a miracle half-court heave, but the clock had hit zero before she released the shot.
 
Longwood improves their record to 22-11 and faces #1 seed North Carolina State Saturday in March Madness' First Round. Smith finished with a double-double of 32 points and 13 rebounds, the highest point total anyone has scored against the Mountaineers all season. Kyla McMakin added 18, with Tra'dayja Smith going 5-for-6 at the charity stripe for 11.
 
Full information on the 2022-23 roster and schedule is set to be updated in the coming months.