Loyola utilized a hot first half from the floor to hold off visiting Mount St. Mary's 74–58 Saturday afternoon.

Erica DiClemente went 5–for–8 from 3 while Miriam McKenzie was a perfect 4–for–4 from 3. The pair led the Greyhounds with 23 and 16 points, respectively.

Alyssa Sutherland, who also hit a pair of 3s, finished with 15.

"We've talked all season about trying to get better every day," Greyhounds head coach Joe Logan said. "We are starting to see it pay off and now e have a week of exams and our job now is to just continue to build on it."

It was the Greyhounds third win in four games while the Mount dropped its fifth in a row. DiClemente said the team had been looking forward to Saturday's matchup.

"We wanted to get a win over Mount St. Mary's. We've been doing well against them in the past," DiClemente said. "Our coach actually joked with us saying how it's basically their Super Bowl, so it was going to be one of their biggest games being so close."

The Greyhounds jumped on the Mount early, taking an 11–0 lead before Jessie Kaufman hit a 3 for the visitors. But Miriam McKenzie answered with her second 3 in as many possessions for a 14–3 advantage less than four minutes into the game.

With the lead cut to five, DiClemente sparked another run for Loyola with a 3. Ashley Christie answered for the Mount, but two minutes the later the Greyhounds got 3s on consecutive possessions from DiClemente and McKenzie for a 25–12 lead. Loyola shot nearly 70 percent from the floor in the first 8:22, including 5-for-6 from 3.

"It's something that we work on, but like anybody, you're not sure," Logan said. "We have to be ready when that doesn't happen to get the ball inside, to get to the free throw line."

The Mountaineers responded with an 8–0 in the middle of the first half. Mary Dunn hit a straightaway 3 for the Mount before Selina Mann converted from the right wing three possessions later before a Kayla Grossett banked runner made it 30–24.

Alyssa Sutherland ended the run with a pair of free throws out of a media timeout before Katie Sheahin converted a layup and was fouled—she missed the free throw—to push the lead back to 34–24.

Grossett started another modest Mount run with a layup before three more points on free throws cut the margin to 34–29.

Meredith hit a 3 for Loyola before Christie hit one for the Mount with five seconds remaining to cut the lead to 41–32 at half.

The Mount had six different players make a 3 in the first half.

Loyola held the Mount to 33.3 percent from the floor including 1–for–9 from 3 in the second half.

Mary Dunn led the Mount with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Selina Mann scored 10 for the Mount.

"If I knew, we would've got on the board early. We didn't play well defensively in the beginning. We gave up a lot of points," Mountaineers head coach Bryan said. "Our intensity wasn't there. [My assistant coach] said it best: the game started at 1:30 and we kind of started playing about 1:45."

With an eight-day hiatus before a Dec. 19 trip to army, DiClemente said it was important for the Greyhounds to establish some momentum.

"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get a win," she said. "We really needed it going into exam week."