2/5/2009 -

Ashley Ruiz knocked down six threes on her way to a career-high 21 points.

Patchogue, N.Y. – Freshman Ashley Ruiz (Carmel, N.Y.) knocked down six three-pointers and finished with a game and career-high 21 points as the College of Mount Saint Vincent Women’s Basketball team cruised to a 78-55 road win at St. Joseph’s-LI. Ruiz was one of four Mount players to score in double-figures.

The Dolphins led from the outset on Wednesday, scoring 15 of the first 19 points in the game to take a 15-4 advantage on a Courtney Heesemann (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) jumper 5:02 into the contest. The lead ballooned to 20 points twice late in the half, once on a Lauren Percodani (Staten Island, N.Y.) triple with 3:29 left and then again on a Percodani jumper with 2:01 left before the break, before finally taking a 17 edge into the intermission.

Percodani and Kerry O’Connor (Bethpage, N.Y.) led the Mount in the first 20:00 with eight points each, while Ruiz came off the bench and scored just six of her 21 in the opening stanza. The Mount held St. Joseph’s to just 35.7-percent (10-28) shooting in the first half, while shooting 44.4-percent (16-36) from the field overall and 57.1-percent (8-14) from long distance themselves.

St. Joseph’s used a 15-4 run in the first 8:12 of the second half to slice the Mount Saint Vincent lead to just six points at 44-38. The Dolphins would not be able to pull away from the Golden Eagles until a 15-1 run in the final 4:26 to take the contest by the final 23 point decision. The run was keyed by a pair of Karissa Koerner (Bay Shore, N.Y.) triples and seven points from Heesemann.

Ruiz finished the half with 15 points on 5-7 shooting, including 4-6 from long distance. She also finished the contest with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Heesemann recorded her sixth double-double of the season with her 15 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds. She also collected four steals in the winning effort.

Percodani netted 12 points for the Mount and also grabbed two rebounds and handed out three assists. Koerner reached double-figures in scoring for the first time in four games with 11 points on 4-9 shooting.

St. Joseph’s (6-14, 6-7 Skyline) was led by Carissa Pirotta who posted 20 points and five rebounds, while Trish McMahon posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Dana Carney also reached double-figures for the Golden Eagles with 10 points.

Mount Saint Vincent held St. Joseph’s to 35.3-percent (18-51) shooting in the game and forced 29 Golden Eagle turnovers, which it turned into 28 points. The Dolphins shot 41.4-percent (29-70) from the floor and an even 50-percent (14-28) from three point range in the win.

The victory gives Mount Saint Vincent its fourth win in six games and moves its record to 11-9 overall and to 10-3 in the Skyline Conference. Next up for the Dolphins is a trip to Polytechnic on February 7. Tip-ff is slated for 1:00 p.m.