LORETTO, Pa. (March 3, 2022) – For the first time in program history, Mount St. Mary's women's basketball finished the Northeast Conference season in third place. A victory over Saint Francis U, 61-48, sealed the spot in the regular season finale.
 
The Mount finished the regular season with a mark of 13-12 (11-7 NEC). By virtue of all the other results in the NEC, Mount lines up with SFU again for the first round of the conference tournament.
 
Kendall Bresee used free throws down the stretch to take the game high in scoring with 16 points. Michaela Harrison and Kayla Agentowicz crossed the double-digit threshold with 10 points each. Bresee and Isabella Hunt tied for the team lead in rebounds with six.
 
Saint Francis U (8-21, 8-10 NEC) received a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds from Jada Dapaa. Jenna Mastellone matched her in the points column to share the team high.
 
By stat lines, the victory was a rarity for the Mount. The Red Flash out shot the Mountaineers 40.4 percent to 37.5, making Thursday the second time all season the Mount won despite trailing in field goal percentage. SFU also held the rebound margin 36-29, bumping the visitors' record to 5-9 when an opponent grabs more boards. A huge boost for the Mount was turnovers – SFU had 22 giveaways to the Mountaineers' 11.
 
Both teams traded 9-0 runs in the first quarter. Mount struck first, going up 11-4 with 6:10 left. SFU countered with nine of their own to steal the lead back at 13-11. Bresee hit back-to-back jumpers to exchange the advantage again, and the visitors led 15-13 after one.
 
The second period belong to the Mountaineers. Shooting 58.3 percent from the field (7-for-12) and 3-of-5 from downtown, the Mount soared toward the end of the first half with a 12-0 run, pushing their lead up to 15 points. That margin stayed in place at 36-21 for the break.
 
A foul shot from Bresee capped the lead at 16 before Saint Francis U made their way back into the game. Tess Borgosz interrupted a 6-0 Red Flash run with a layup, but the edge hovered around 10 points at the five minute mark. Mastellone hit a layup to trim the deficit to six, but Jada Lee responded with a floater that took a fortunate bounce to stem the tide once again.
 
SFU would make several small runs, but the Mount would find a way to hit clutch shots at various points in the fourth. Harrison got the first two – a triple with 8:07 remaining and a cut to the hoop to set the score at 50-40 with 5:20 left. Lee had another drive and score to push the advantage to 11 inside of four minutes. Foul shots by Bresee and Aryna Taylor iced the game.
 
Going into the NEC Championship, Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis Brooklyn earned the top two respective spots, followed by the Mount and Wagner earning quarterfinal home contests. LIU defeated Bryant to take the fifth seed, succeeded by SFU, Bryant, Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut. Merrimack at 7-11 in conference play is still in transition from Division II to I and thus ineligible to participate.
 
Mount St. Mary's hosts the NEC Quarterfinals rematch at 7 p.m. Monday, March 7^th.