CALDWELL, N.J.- Caldwell University women's basketball senior Casey O'Shaughnessy (Brooklyn, N.Y.) netted 18 points as the Cougars held off St. Michael's College 66-63 in a non-conference game.
 
The Cougars improve to 5-5 on the season, while the Purple Knights fall to 1-7.
 
Caldwell jumped out to a 21-7 lead late in the opening quarter as O'Shaughnessy drained a pair of three-pointers. Senior Rebecca Morrison (Ayrshire, Scotland) and freshman Lucy Coogan (Kilkenny, Ireland) as triples to give the Cougars an early advantage.
 
The Purple Knights trimmed the score to 28-17 midway through the second quarter. O'Shaughnessy and Morrison answered with lay-ups, while O'Shaughnessy drained a late three-pointer to give the Cougars a 38-21 lead at halftime.
 
The Cougars surged ahead to start the second half, pulling ahead by as much at 18 points at 46-28 at the 3:40 mark of the third quarter. St. Michael's cut the score to 10 points at 53-43 early in the fourth quarter.
 
Caldwell answered to extend their lead to 62-45 with 5:07 left in the game. The Purple Knights scored 16 unanswered points to pull to within one point at 62-61 with under a minute to play. Coogan and O'Shaughnessy both went 2-for-2 at the free throw line in the final 35 seconds to hold off the Purple Knights down the stretch.
 
O'Shaughnessy led the way with 18 points and five rebounds, while Morrison added 13 points and five boards. Coogan finished with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while graduate Saundra Cleckley (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) totaled nine rebounds and to steals.
 
The Cougars are back in action following the Christmas break as they return to conference play with a road contest at Dominican University of New York on Thursday, December 29 at 5:30 pm.