NEWTON, Mass. – Senior Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.) had the third-most productive offensive performance in Mount Ida College women's basketball program history, scoring 33 points and leading the Mustangs to a 77-71 win over Rivier University on Saturday afternoon at Mount Ida Athletic Center, their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory of the season.
Jesse was 13-21 from the floor and hit five three-pointers, scoring 23 of her points in the second half as the Mustangs erased a five-point halftime deficit.
She engaged in a great scoring duel with Raiders sophomore guard Kaylee Kacavas (Dracut, Mass.), who scored 28 points, fifteen of them in the first half when the Raiders grabbed a 26-17 lead after the first ten minutes.
The Mustangs broke a 71-71 tie with the final six points of the game, all on free throws, and got a huge steal from Breanna Muir (Wareham, Mass.) to get the ball back with a three point lead, forcing the Raiders to foul again with eighteen seconds left.
Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) hit four of those free throws down the stretch and finished with 12 points and three assists, while Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) turned in another double-double with 13 points and 13 boards.
The Raiders ended the first quarter on a 14-2 run, with Rebecca DeBaldo (Pelham, N.H.) and Kacavas scoring nine points apiece in the opening frame. They increased that lead to as much as 12 points in the second quarter before Jesse and Liotta closed the half with three-pointers to trim the margin to five.
Jesse scored nine straight points in the third quarter and Mount Ida finally got their noses in front with thirty-nine seconds left in the quarter when Brittany Crosby (Riverside, R.I.) hit a jump shot. Kacavas answered with a layup to send the Raiders to the final period with a one point lead in a game that featured eight ties and ten lead changes.
The Raiders grabbed the lead several times in the fourth, with Mount Ida continuing to answer and tie the game through Jesse, who hit a three-pointer to give them a lead again at 63-61 before Kacavas finally tied the game for the last time at 71 with a three-pointer of her own at 1:18 to play.
Liotta was sent to the line and sank the first of her free throws to give the Mustangs the lead for good.
Behind Martinez, nine rebounds from Crosby to go with her six points, and six rebounds off the bench from Imani Bumpus (W. Hartford, Conn.), the Mustangs held a 56-40 edge in rebounding.
Kacavas led the Raiders on the glass with nine rebounds, missing out on a double-double, while also dishing out three assists.
DeBaldo was held to just her nine points from the first quarter, though she did grab five rebounds, while Savanna Butterfield (Londonderry, N.H.) scored six points and had seven caroms, three assists and two blocks and Megan Hamel (Colebrook, N.H.) added seven points off of the bench.
Muir dished out four assists and had four steals and two thefts for the Mustangs (5-14, 1-9 GNAC). Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.) scored four points in a reserve role.
Jesse's scoring performance trails only that of teammate Martinez, who scored 36 points against Pine Manor two seasons ago, and Cherie Parisi, who netted 34 points against Becker College in 2007.
Mount Ida will try to ride this momentum into their next game, a 3:00 PM showdown with Johnson & Wales next Tuesday in Providence.
The Raiders (5-12, 3-7 GNAC) try to win their third game in four times out with a non-conference game at Pine Manor the same night.