The Bear Facts

The Bears welcome Mount Saint Mary to Brooklyn in a rematch of their 72-57 upset victory over the Knights in the 2020 Skyline Women’s Basketball Semifinal. It will be the first contest at The Hill Center in 634 days.

The navy and gray dropped a pair of decisions to CUNYAC opposition to begin the 2021 season. An SJC quartet finishing in double figures wasn’t enough in their season opener against Baruch while they fell to Hunter last Saturday despite a late surge led by Grace Kennedy. The rookie finished with 17 points and two rebounds short of the first double-double in her brief collegiate career.

Reigning Skyline Player of the Year Kelly O’Donnell posted 20.5 points and 14.5 boards in the opening two games, good enough to lead the league in both categories. Her rebounds per game totals place the senior sixth in Division III. Kennedy (15.0) and Alexis Breen (11.0) join O’Donnell in averaging double-digit scoring.

Of her 22 points this season, Breen has gone a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe to start the campaign; draining six against the Bearcats and five against the Hawks. The junior guard also leads the team in assists with seven while senior Jamie Provino’s six dimes has her second.

The Knightly News 

Following a season-opening loss to New Paltz, Mount Saint Mary won their last two games; edging Oregon-based outfit No. 24 George Fox and defeating Purchase on the road to begin their Skyline slate.

Scoring in double figures in each of the Mount’s first three contests while shooting 16 of 29 from the field, Katie Smith leads the Knights in points per game (13.3). The senior led all scorers with 15 points against the nationally-ranked Bruins.

The Knights return a pair of 2019-20 All-Skyline selections. Graduate student and First-Teamer Morina Bojka dropped 19 points on the Panthers in their Skyline opener and was a rebound shy of posting her first double-double of the campaign. The Connecticut native sits in third with 11.0 points per game and her 5.7 boards per game is second behind Annie Kennan’s 12.0.

All-Conference Second Team honoree Lauren Desrats featured in MSMC’s first two matchups, racking up 11 points, nine rebounds, five steals, and four assists.

Despite falling to SJC as the No. 1 seed in the Semifinal round of the 2020 Skyline Conference Championship, the Knights hold a 10-2 advantage all-time against the Bears.