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Saints women's basketball top Vassar, take over first place

Posted 2/8/15

The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team earned a solid 62-50 victory over Vassar College on Saturday afternoon in Canton, NY, as six different players scored six or more points. The …

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Saints women's basketball top Vassar, take over first place

Posted

The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team earned a solid 62-50 victory over Vassar College on Saturday afternoon in Canton, NY, as six different players scored six or more points. The Saints built a big lead in the first half and never looked back to win their ninth straight game.

Today's win coupled with an RIT upset over Skidmore has put St. Lawrence into sole possession of first place in the Liberty League standings at 12-1 (17-4 overall). Junior captain Lauren Quattrocchi led the Saints with 14 points, while rookie Jenny Scudder added 12 on 5-of-9 shooting. Kara McDuffee had a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds), while Allison Cady (9), Ellie Gonyeau (6) and Kaelyn Kohlasch (6) all contributed at least six points in the win.

Vassar, the defending Liberty League champion, falls to 8-13 (3-9) on the year. The Brewers were led by Ariella Rosenthal's 18 points and 11 rebounds, but conference-leading scorer Caitlin Drakeley was held in check by Cady throughout the game, scoring just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting, 11 below her season average.

"Our first half was outstanding. We played excellent defense in all aspects except giving up a few too many offensive rebounds to Vassar. But we contested shots very well and didn't foul which led to our offense," said St. Lawrence head coach Dan Roiger. "We shot the ball well and I really liked the way we were making extra passes to open shooters. This team is really unselfish and willing to sacrifice their own stats to play great team basketball. They are really fun to coach right now."

St. Lawrence took the lead 1:31 into regulation and never gave it back, as the Saints opened the game on a 13-4 run behind their trio of captains, McDuffee, Cady and Quattrocchi. Vassar worked the ball into the paint with Rose Serafini to keep its deficit in single-digits, but another late run by the home team gave them a comfortable halftime advantage. St. Lawrence rattled off a 12-2 run, as Scudder hit two threes and another came from Kohlasch to give the Saints a 34-17 lead at the break.

Each time the Brewers started to creep back into the game in the second half, St. Lawrence would answer with a big basket to reestablish its advantage. Serafini's lay-up with 13:34 to go made it a 13-point lead, only to see the Saints respond with back-to-back lay-ups to up the lead to 47-30. Allyson Pemberton got Vassar within 11 with 5:13 to go, but that was as close as the visitors would get, as St. Lawrence used good clock management to solidify the 62-50 win.

St. Lawrence shot 43% from the floor, had a 17-6 advantage in assists and saw its bench outscore Vassar's 16-6. Serafini finished with eight points and six boards for Vassar, which shot just 33% from the field (21-of-64).

"Now we have our work cut out for us," added Coach Roiger. "The next three league games will be a great challenge for us but it is really what we want and need at this time of year. As usual, it will be a great finish for the league."

The Saints will head to Saratoga Springs, NY on Tuesday, February 10 with a highly-anticipated showdown with Skidmore College at 6:00pm. The two teams, who are currently battling for the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, will also meet again in Canton, NY 10 days later on February 20 to close out the regular season.