X

Thoroughbreds top Saints women's basketball, 64-61

Posted 2/21/15

The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team's "Senior Night" was spoiled on Friday night by Skidmore College, who rallied in the second half for a 64-61 win in the Burkman Gymnasium. The game …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Thoroughbreds top Saints women's basketball, 64-61

Posted

The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team's "Senior Night" was spoiled on Friday night by Skidmore College, who rallied in the second half for a 64-61 win in the Burkman Gymnasium.

The game was the last regular season home game for seniors Kara McDuffee and Allison Cady, who finish with a 31-1 conference record in the regular season after the loss. The Saints, now 19-6 (13-3), had already clinched the No. 1 seed and regular season title, though Skidmore's win clinched the No. 2 seed for the Thoroughbreds at 11-4 (15-9 overall).

"Skidmore did what they needed to do to beat us tonight. It was a great game between two competitive opponents and they deserved to win," said Saints head coach Dan Roiger. "We made some critical errors in the last six minutes or so and when we did, their players took advantage of them. Conversely, we got some good shots that we just did not capitalize on tonight."

Skidmore's Angela Botiba led all players with 19 points, while Kelly Donnelly chipped in eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds. St. Lawrence, which shot just 34% from the floor and 7-of-28 from behind the arc, was led by Jenny Scudder's 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. It was a tough night shooting for the home team, as Kaelyn Kohlasch (3-of-6) and Shayna Davner (2-of-4) were the lone players to shoot 50% from the field.

The Saints held a 33-30 lead at intermission in part because of five three pointers and eight Skidmore turnovers. It was a very competitive half, and though the home team stretched the lead to eight on a triple by Lauren Quattrocchi with 2:00 minutes to go, Skidmore battled back and finished the half on a 5-0 run to take the momentum into the locker room.

St. Lawrence appeared ready to cruise early in the second half, as McDuffee's lay-up 5:40 into the period gave the Saints an 11-point advantage. However, Skidmore remained poised and delivered a 15-0 run that put the Thoroughbreds ahead 53-47 with 7:02 to play. The teams continued to go back-and-forth, with Quattrocchi hitting a triple that gave the home team the lead back, 59-58, with 3:05 to play.

Skidmore, which had found success throughout the night by getting the ball to the low block for Botiba, went back to their star senior and she came up with back-to-back lay-ups to give the visitors a 62-59 lead with 1:19 left. After the teams exchanged baskets, the Saints final chance to tie came from Scudder, who couldn't convert from behind the arc allowing the Thoroughbreds to celebrate the win and the No. 2 seed.

"Despite the loss, I reminded the team that they earned the league title with their overall body of work and we like the fact that we get to play at home on Wednesday," added Coach Roiger. "We have had a great season where we had to overcome some real adversity losing one of our best players, and we have had a lot of people step up and make key contributions when Caroline went down. It's been a fun season and we want to keep it going as long as we can."

Though "Senior Night" didn't go the way Cady and McDuffee had hoped it would, they have another home game to play this Wednesday, February 25 when the team hosts either Union or Clarkson in the conference semifinals.

"Allie and Kara mean so much to our team and have to our program throughout their careers. They are great competitors, great people and great teammates," said Coach Roiger. "I don't even want to think of not having them on the team, it seems like they have been with me forever and have been integral in our leadership, culture, and success. They both have very bright futures ahead of them in the endeavors they choose."