The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team continued its winning ways on Friday evening with a 64-44 victory over Bard College in the Burkman Gymnasium, as the Saints won their eighth consecutive game and 11th straight conference contest.

St. Lawrence, now 16-4 overall and 11-1 on the year, remained tied atop the league standings with Skidmore after using a 42-23 lead at the half to pull away from the Raptors (4-15, 0-11). Jenny Scudder led the home team with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Kara McDuffee and Allison Cady added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Bard was led by Tytravia Riley's brilliant outing, as she finished one rebound shy of a triple-double with 21 points, nine boards and 11 steals. In the process, Riley became Bard College's all-time leading scorer.

"It was a nice win for us," said St. Lawrence head coach Dan Roiger. "It wasn't pretty, but it was comfortable to where we spread the minutes out and kept our legs fresh for tomorrow's game."

St. Lawrence hosted its annual Breast Cancer Awareness game, with the team wearing pink uniforms to show their support in the fight against breast cancer, a disease that is diagnosed in every 1-in-8 women each year in the United States. The game was held in conjunction with National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

The Saints shot 58% from the field and were 6-of-9 in the first half from behind the arc which helped them pull away. Eleven different players scored for the home team, as Coach Roiger turned to his bench for the majority of the second half. Bard shot just 36% from the field including an 0-for-6 mark from three, as the supporting cast around Riley were just 8-of-47 from the floor. The junior standout was 9-of-18 from the floor in the game.

The Saints built an early eight point edge, but saw Bard linger throughout the majority of the first half thanks to Riley, as her lay-up with 6:36 left in the opening period brought the Raptors to within four at 23-19. However, the Saints would find another gear in the closing minutes of the half, ripping off a 19-4 run to cruise into intermission up big. After pushing the lead to 12, Scudder, McDuffee and Cady hit three consecutive triples to take control of the game.

Riley would help cut the Raptors' deficit back to 12 at 49-37 thanks to a jumper with 12:22 left. St. Lawrence would respond from behind the arc again, though, as Scudder knocked down two straight threes to build the lead back to 18. Bard would not threaten again as the Saints clinched a playoff spot with the 64-44 win.

St. Lawrence will look to keep its momentum going tomorrow, Saturday, February 7 when it hosts Vassar College at 2:00pm.