EMMITSBURG -- The five seniors on the Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team will remember Monday night's 97-80 win at Knott Arena over St. Francis (Pa.) as much more than just their final regular-season home game.
The Mountaineers put up their most points in a game in a decade. They beat the Red Flash for the first time in their careers. They reeled off their seventh consecutive win.
And, most important, they clinched at least the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Conference tournament, meaning they'll host a postseason game for the first time since 2002.
"It's momentum, really, a confidence-builder, too," senior point guard Ashley Christie said. "We haven't been able to do this in the past, but now we've kind of arrived."
Christie nearly had a triple-double with 16 points, nine assists and eight steals while Sydney Henderson had a game-high 25 points and seven steals and Jenn Carney came off the bench to tally 22 points for the Mountaineers (17-11, 12-4 NEC).
The Mountaineers forced turnovers as they came up with 23 steals, the seventh-highest total in program history.
"It was amazing," MSM coach Bryan Whitten said of the defensive effort, noting that he began using full-court pressure defense only to slow the fast-paced St. Francis offense.
NEC scoring leader Alli Williams led St. Francis (11-16, 9-7) with 22 points, but was by no means dominant in shooting 6 for 16 from the field and committing five turnovers.
"She had to work so hard to get those points," Whitten said. "I'm sure mentally as well as physically it probably weighed on her."
The Mount trailed for most of the first 10 minutes but used a 10-0 run to turn an 18-15 deficit into a 25-18 lead. Henderson had 13 first-half points and four steals and the Mount got a nice contribution of five points, two rebounds and a steal out of Kaitlyn Eisenhard, who averages just 1.7 points per game, in the final five minutes of the half as the Mountaineers took a 38-34 lead into the break.
The Mountaineers made their first four shots of the second half to forge their first double-digit lead at 47-37. The advantage was just 60-54 midway through the half when the Mount used a 14-4 run to put it away, making four 3-pointers including two that had Christie penetrating and dishing to Henderson beyond the arc. Christie also had two free throws during the spurt.
Christie averaged just 5.4 points per game over the Mount's first 12 conference game but she is averaging 15.0 over the past four. She said better communication has been the key to the Mount's winning streak, but Whitten had a different opinion.
"Ashley's offensive game has been key," he said.
Following their top offensive output since scoring 100 in an overtime loss to Monmouth on Jan. 31, 2004, the Mountaineers head to Wagner on March 1 and Robert Morris on March 3, still holding out hope of catching the Colonials (17-10, 13-3) for the top seed in the NEC tournament, which begins on March 9.
"We are definitely looking forward to the tournament," Henderson said, "but we know we have business to take care of first."
