The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team earned its ninth straight Liberty League win on Friday evening with a 67-50 victory over William Smith in Canton, NY. Kara McDuffee had a double-double in the first half and finished with a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds, while rookies Cara Waterson, Jenny Scudder and Kaelyn Kohlasch helped the home team to the conference win.

St. Lawrence (14-4, 9-1) shot 40% from the floor and held a 44-36 edge in rebounds. Waterson scored 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while Scudder hit back-to-back three pointers with 7:30 remaining in the game to help the Saints pull away from William Smith (3-13, 2-6). Kohlasch had six points and played solid defense, while fellow Olivia Mathieu (6 points, 7 rebounds) also had a solid outing.

"Our bench, to a player, made major contributions today," said St. Lawrence head coach Dan Roiger. "They were huge all game long and I felt like no matter who we put in the game, our play never let up. That is so important to the success of the team."

The Herons struggled from the floor, shooting 34% and 2-for-10 from behind the arc. The visitors top post threats, Chloe Hayter and Gabrielle Eure, were in foul trouble and forced to the bench early in the first half. Ali Pliszka had 11 points and eight boards to pace William Smith, but shot just 4-of-18 from the floor.

McDuffee starred in the first half, scoring 10 points, adding 10 rebounds, three assists and a steal to help her team out to a 34-19 lead at intermission. St. Lawrence used a 13-0 run midway through the period to take a 10-9 lead to 23-9, capped on a lay-up by McDuffee off of an offensive rebound.

William Smith worked the interior to remain within 12 throughout the second half as Hayter found openings to attack. However, Scudder delivered the knock-out blows with a pair of triples just 24 seconds apart to stretch the lead to 54-36 with 7:24 left. The Herons would not threaten again, as Allison Cady added two three pointers and Scudder tacked on one more for the 67-50 win.

Thanks to an impressive win by Vassar over Skidmore on Friday in Poughkeepsie, St. Lawrence is now tied atop the conference standings with the Thoroughbreds. The Saints will look to keep pace tomorrow, Saturday, January 31 when they host RIT at 2:00pm.