Newburgh, NY (Nov. 4, 2018) – The Purchase College women's basketball dropped a Skyline Conference game, 62-53, at Mount Saint Mary College Tuesday night.

The Mount closed out the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 16-11 lead into the second stanza. 

The Knights also finished the second quarter in similar fashion, ending the quarter on a 14-1 run to take a 34-24 lead into halftime.

The Panther cut the lead to seven in the third quarter following an 8-2 run to end the period. Purchase's Shadai Plowden (FR/Yonkers, NY) and DeJeana Peoples (SO/New York, NY) fueled the run with a three-point buckets each. Alfa DeJesus (JR/Bronx, NY) connected on a jumper and Nyasia Harris (SR/South Fallsburg) added another point on a free throw, later netting a put-back layup to close the half.

The Knights maintained the lead in the fourth quarter after Purchase cut the lead to two multiple times. Smith knocked down six free throws in the final 38 seconds to finish the game with a nine-point victory.

Katie Smith and Lauren Desrats led the team in points with 12 apiece and Kayla Cleare and Annie Keenan each had 11 for the Knights. Cleare finished with a double-double with 12 rebounds to go with her 11 points. Keenan finished just short of a double-double with nine rebounds on the night. Maite Gritsko added a team-high five assists while Smith and Desrats each had four.

Amber Jones (SR/Bronx, NY) led the Panthers with 11 points while Peoples and Harris each had 10 points. Harris finished with a double-double, adding 11 rebounds with her 10 points. DeJesus chipped in seven rebounds and Amber Yarter (JR/Albany, NY) added four assists.

The Mount held Purchase to 26.7-percent shooting from the field and 21.2-percent from three. The Knights dominated the paint, out-rebounding the Panthers 50-34 and outscoring them 24-12 in the paint. Mount Saint Mary converted 15 turnovers into 19 points on the night.

In defeat, the Panthers drop to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in the league. The host Knights picked up their fourth straight win and advanced to 5-2 on the season, 3-0 in the Skyline.

Purchase returns to its home court on Thursday at 8 p.m. to host Yeshiva University.

-MSMC Sports Information contributed to this article