For the second time this season, North Country Community College wasn't able stick with Mohawk Valley.

After losing only two games all season, the Saints' women's basketball team lost for the second time to the Hawks, 66-51, Saturday, in the Region III Championship tournament semifinal game at SRC Arena.

North Country (25-3) split the season series with Mohawk Valley after winning the first matchup by 14 and losing the second by 16.

This time around, the Saints trailed the Hawks by just five points at halftime, but Jhontay Giles and Stevie Ray were too much to handle in the second half as they combined for 26 points.

"I just thought we struggled to score," Saints' coach Jerrad Dumont said. "That was what I was most worried about heading into the game was just being able to score enough points. I thought we played good defense, and I thought we had some opportunities … But, we had some steals and we missed a couple of breakaway layups and we missed some free throws."

Giles scored 17 and hauled in 11 rebounds in the second half alone for Mohawk Valley.

Although the Saints were able to shoot with the Hawks, with both teams shooting just above 30 percent from the field, the free throw line is where the difference was made.

North Country shot 20 free throws and made only nine compared to Mohawk Valley's 29-for-37 performance at the charity stripe.

Shaneika Smith led the Saints in scoring, assists and steals, as she tallied 20 points, dished out three assists and grabbed four steals.

Courtney Boyea also helped in the scoring department by netting 14 points. Latifah Fletcher led the team in rebounds with eight, while Smith and Abby Barnes each grabbed six.

Meanwhile for the Hawks, Giles scored a game-high 21 points, including 13 from the foul line. Giles also brought in a game-high 13 rebounds.

"The Giles girl played really well on the glass and she shot the ball well from the free throw line. I was very impressed with the way she played," Dumont said. "I think she was the big reason for their success."

Imani Pierce also recorded a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. She also had a team-high four assists.

Ray came off the bench for Mohawk Valley to score 17 points, which was more than double the bench output for North Country.

The historic season for the Saints has come to an end, but there is still plenty of hope heading into next season for Dumont and his team.

"I talked to the freshmen about repeating next season. We want to reach this game again and win it … I told them that that's our goal next year is to make it to the championship game."

The Saints will look to return seven freshman next season, three of whom started in this years semi final loss to Mohawk Valley.