Niagara University, N.Y. (March 4, 2023) – Mount St. Mary's lost game two of the Buffalo tour to Niagara 61-52. The Mountaineers displayed heart and grit from start to finish in their regular-season finale.
 
Forced turnovers and fast breaks positioned the Mount ahead early as Jessica Tomasetti and Aryna Taylor scored the first eight side-stepping defenders in the paint, 8-2. Continued defensive pressure on both ends and fast breaks was a common theme throughout the first, adding success for both teams. A corner three from Carissa Dunham put the Mountaineers up one, 11-10. Relentless defense resulted in easy buckets for the Eagles, 16-13 after one.
 
Defensive pressure flowed into the second, both teams played their season finale with pride. Taylor and Tomasetti were popular names in the second with 13 total points and one shot missed between them. Jo Raflo saved a momentum bucket with a block on Saige Glover after Glover stole it at halfcourt, Dunham with the rebound. The Mount shot 30 percent from three while hitting 10-22 shots from the field in the first half. Intensity on both ends doesn't serve the way these teams played in the first half justly, 26-26.
 
Mount St. Mary's took high percentage shots and played swarming defense; they led the Eagles 36-32 at the five-minute mark in the third. The team totaled 51.6 percent from the field while making 6-15 from beyond the arc, while forcing the Eagles to shoot 1-12 from three and 34 percent from the field, going into the fourth. After three quarters of aggressive play the score 48-41.
 
Niagara tried pulling away in the fourth, credit going to their persistence on the offensive glass. The Eagles were winning in the rebound column 32:24, 18:3 on the offensive glass, while shooting 20-60. The Mountaineers fought back by hitting clutch shots, forcing fouls, and making free throws. In the end the 23 offensive rebounds were the deciding factor. The Mountaineers played well, finishing 17-39 from the field, 7-19 from three, and 11-12 from the foul line, while forcing the Eagles to shoot 25-70 from the field and 1-15 from three.
 
UPCOMING
 
Mount St. Mary's competes in their first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament game at 10:30 on Tuesday, March 7, against Canisius in Atlantic City.