NEWBURGH, N.Y. (Feb. 26, 2022) – The 2021-22 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy women's basketball season came to an end with a 61-53 road loss to top-seed Mount St. Mary College in the Skyline Championship Game on Saturday afternoon. The Mariners' record finishes at 21-6, it was their third-straight 20-win season, while the Knights improve to 23-3 and will play in the NCAA National Championship Tournament next week.
 
Game Link

• Box Score 

First Half

• A tightly contested opening period featured four lead changes before the Knights used an Annie Keenan jumper and a bucket from Lauren Desrats to open a 12-9 advantage at the 4:25 mark of the first quarter.
• Desrats pushed the Knights in front 14-10, their largest lead of the period, on a bucket with 1:46 left in the frame.
• USMMA responded with the final four points of the quarter, including a pair of free throws from senior Julia Dahlke (San Diego, Calif.), to knot the score at 14-14 after 10 minutes of action.
• After going 0-for-8 from three-point range in the first quarter, Shannon Phelan drilled the Knights' first attempt in the second stanza to open a 17-14 advantage.
• The Knights spread their lead to a half-high six points twice in the second frame, once on a Bojka triple with 5:55 left before halftime and again on a Phelan free-throw with 3:06 left in the quarter that put the Knights in front 28-22.
• The Mariners sliced the deficit to 28-27 on a conversion by freshman Kaira Winston (Chesterfield, Va.) with 1:46 left before halftime.
• Mount Saint Mary closed the second period with six of the final eight points to build its lead back to 34-29 after 20 minutes of play.
• Mount Saint Mary shot 34.3-percent overall in the first half, but struggled from three-point range after going just 2-for-16 from behind the arc.
• USMMA converted at 33.3-percent overall and knocked down only two triples in 10 attempts before halftime.
• Bojka led all scorers at the break with 13 points.
• Freshman Grace Jackson (Parma, Idaho) paced the Mariners with 10 points. 

Second Half

• Neither team would get on the board until Keenan knocked down a pair of free throws at the 7:54 mark of the third quarter to give the Knights a 36-29 advantage.
• USMMA responded with the next six points to cut the Mount's advantage down to a single point, at 36-35, on a Jackson bucket with 5:22 left in the quarter.
• Bojka pushed the Mount back in front by three with a jumper before buried a three-pointer to give the Knights a 41-35 advantage with 2:13 left in the period.
• The two sides alternated jumpers in the final minute with freshman Abby Stramski (Jones, Okla.) pulling the Mariners to within 43-39 with 10 minutes left to play.
• Jackson opened the scoring in the fourth and brought USMMA to with a bucket, at 43-41, before the Knights put together a 15-2 run covering nearly six minutes to open their largest lead of the game at 58-43 with 2:45 left in the contest.
• Rivera canned a three-pointer to give the Mount a nine-point advantage with 5:12 left before Desrats added a bucket and Bojka tallied four points to build the lead to 15 points.
• USMMA climbed back to within seven points on a trio of Jackson free-throws in the final minute, but that would be as close as it would get before an Erin Smith free-throw gave the Mount the final eight-point edge.
• The Knights were limited to 9-for-30 shooting overall and a 2-for-10 effort from three-point range in the second half.
• USMMA also went 9-for-30 from the floor in the second half with a pair of three-pointers.
• Bojka and Rivera led the Mount after halftime with six points apiece.
• Jackson led everyone, erupting for 17 second-half tallies for the Mariners. 

For The Mariners

• Jackson closed out a huge afternoon with a game-high 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds and an assist.
• Senior Madison Reddick (Baker, Mont.) finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
• Junior Madison Demos (Downers Grove, Ill.) closed the day with six points, seven caroms and a team-high four assists. 

For The Knights

• Bojka earned Most Outstanding Players honors after finishing with a double-double, scoring a team-high 19 points and hauling in 11 rebounds. Bojka added two assists in the victory.
• Smith reached double-figures with 11 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.
• Desrats finished the win with eight points and a trio of steals for the Knights.
• Rivera knocked in two big second half triples and collected five rebounds.
• Kennan led all players with 12 caroms and chipped in six points and a pair of helpers. 

Game Statistics

• Mount Saint Mary shot 32.3-percent on the day, connecting on just four three-pointers.
• USMMA converted at 31.7-percent overall and also made four triples.
• Mount Saint Mary outscored USMMA from the free-throw line 15-9.
• Mount Saint Mary held a slim 20-18 advantage in paint points.
• USMMA collected 14 offensive rebounds and held a 16-12 edge in second chance scoring. 

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