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EMMITSBURG, MD. – The LIU women's basketball team came back from being down in the first half to lead Mount St. Mary's for the duration of the second half in Knott Arena Monday night, but the Mountaineers' Jaqueline Brewer drained two three-pointers in the final 25 seconds of play to steal the win from the Blackbirds, 63-62. With the heartbreaking loss, LIU starts Northeast Conference play 0-2.

The game was a close one throughout, as neither team ever led by more than eight points. The Blackbirds opened the game with a quick basket from senior Cleandra Roberts at 19:56, but the Mountaineers answered right away, with a layup at 19:26 that sparked a 10-2 run for the home team. Mount's widest lead of the game came at the 12:59 mark, when a jumper by Sydney Henderson put them up, 15-7.

LIU came back swinging, however. Sophomore Sophie Bhasin made a layup at 12:07, and followed it up with a three pointer at 11:31, cutting Mount's lead to 15-12. The Blackbirds kept it close for the remainder of the half, and used a three-pointer by freshman Shanovia Dove at the five minute mark to cut the lead to just one point, 20-19.

Junior Letava Whippy took over for LIU at that point, scoring seven straight points to give the Blackbirds the lead once more, 26-25 at 2:54. Roberts then added three more points in a span of 20 seconds, and junior Kelly Robinson had a layup with 1:15 on the clock to expand the lead to five points, 31-26. In a foreshadowing way, however, Mount would rally in the final minute of play, scoring four points in the final 30 seconds, including a made free throw with one second on the clock to take a 32-31 lead into halftime.

LIU came out of the break ready to make a comeback, and come back they did. Freshman Aleisha Myers hit a jumper in the paint to give the Blackbirds a one point lead, 36-35 at 17:26. On the next play down the court, senior Fanny Cavallo had a steal, and dished the ball to Roberts for a fast break layup, 38-35. Mount answered with a layup, but Cavallo hit a short jumper to widen LIU's lead back up, 40-37 with 16:35 on the clock.

The Mountaineers were in early foul trouble in the second half, and the Blackbirds went to the line 28 times to Mount's 13. Whippy used four made free throws over a span of a minute to give LIU its widest lead of the game, 45-37 at 14:36.

The Blackbirds continued to lead for the duration of the second half, holding the home team off, and shooting 50 percent from the field. Robinson had a jumper at 3:05 to make it 59-53, and Cavallo added a layup at 1:52 to make it 61-55. But Mount was mounting a comeback that LIU didn't see coming. The home team cut it to four points with a layup at 1:21.

From there, it was a blur. Sophomore Jacqueline Brewer re-entered the game for Mount after sitting most of the second half. Her team found her on the three point line with 27 seconds left, and she drained a shot to cut LIU's lead to one, 61-60.  The Mountaineers fouled on LIU's possession, and the Blackbirds got one in to take a two point lead, 62-60 with 17 seconds left. But on the next play down the court, Brewer chucked up a shot from the left corner, and with eight seconds to go, hit nothing but net. LIU was able to get the ball down the court, but couldn't make a final last shot, stunned by Mount's last ditch efforts. The Mountaineers took the win, 63-62, to improve to 6-8 overall, and 1-1 in the NEC, while LIU falls to 2-11 overall, 0-2 in league play.

It was a total team effort for LIU, with three players scoring in double digits. Senior Cleandra Roberts led LIU with 21 points and four rebounds, along with three steals. Junior Letava Whippy had 12 points and a team-high six rebounds, shooting a near-perfect 10-for-11 from the free throw line. And sophomore Sophie Bhasin added 11 points and three rebounds. Junior Kelly Robinson had nine points and four rebounds in the loss.

Up next, the Blackbirds host St. Francis Brooklyn in an NEC matchup at the Barclays Center, Saturday, January 11 at 12 p.m., before returning to the Steinberg Wellness Center for the first time in a month, to host Central Connecticut State, Monday, January 13 at 7 p.m.