11/19/2006 - (Saratoga Springs, NY) - Mount Saint Vincent Head Women's Basketball Coach Ed Ryder spent much of the pre-season talking about how excited he is for the future of his program as his 10-member freshman class is expected to lead to a very successful run during the next four years. However, little did Ryder know how fast the successful future would come. As much as there are still nearly two dozen games to play during the 2006-07 campaign, it is clear that this young group is built to be competitive. Coming off of an outstanding effort during a tight loss to Ithaca College during the opening round of the Skidmore College Tournament on Saturday, the Mount turned their play up a notch on Sunday, opening up a 35-8 first half lead en route to a 78-22 win over York College to claim third place in the tournament and improve to 1-1.

For the second straight game, freshman Courtney Heesemann (New Hyde Park, NY/New Hyde Park HS) played a crucial role in the Mount's fortunes, scoring 16 points on 7 for 10 shooting, and grabbing five rebounds, after a 15-point, nine rebound effort on Saturday. Heesemann was outstanding all weekend long, as was fellow freshman Karissa Koerner (Bay Shore, NY/Brentwood HS), who added 14 points after a seven-point, seven-rebound performance on Saturday. In total, Mount Saint Vincent freshmen scored 43 of Mount Saint Vincent's 78 points on Saturday, and 83 points during the weekend.

But the day was not only about the freshmen as all four Dolphin veterans had a major role in the win. Junior Kaitlin Burud (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook HS) scored 10 points and added six of Mount Saint Vincent's 21 steals, while fellow junior Edeana Martinez (Bronx, NY/St. Catherine) added 12 points and five rebounds. Having incredible games on the boards were sophomore Ashley Farrow (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township HS), who pulled down 10 rebounds, and junior Caitlin Morch (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney), who added nine rebounds. Overall, Mount Saint Vincent enjoyed a 49-37 edge in rebounds, shot 43% compared to York's 14%, and created 34 York turnovers while turning the ball voer only 13 times.

After the holiday break, Mount Saint Vincent returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 28 when they travel to St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) for a huge Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference (HVWAC) clash. The two teams met each other for the HVWAC Championship during the last two seasons. Tip-off on Nov. 28 will be at 7:30 p.m.