Box Score

GENEVA, NY (February 8, 2008) -- Sophomore Emily Haeuser scored 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, but the No. 14 ranked William Smith women's basketball team proved a formidable opponent in registering a 77-50 victory over the Brewers this evening in Liberty League play. The loss drops Vassar to 4-12, 0-7, while the league leading Herons improve to 17-1, 8-0. Vassar visits Hamilton College on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm.

The Brewers found themselves down 43-23 at halftime and against a team of William Smith's calibre, were unable to make much progress in the second half, although the second half deficit was only 34-27.

Beside Haeuser, Vassar got an 8-point, 14 rebound effort from sophomore Emma Carmichael (Brattleboro, VT/Brattleboro Union) and 8 points from sophomore Ashley Sherman (Hewlettt Harbor, NY/Lynbrook).

The Herons used a swarming, relentless defense to force 35 turnovers, a season-high for a William Smith opponent, while registering a season-high 26 steals.

Vassar hung tough for the first few minutes. Haeuser hit a layup at the 13:51 mark to get the visitors within one, 10-9, but William Smith rattled off nine unanswered points to kick-start a 21-4 run that ballooned the Heron lead to 18, 31-13, with 7:30 remaining in the opening half.

William Smith led 43-23 at halftime and by as many as 30 after the break on its way to its 17th consecutive win over Vassar.

Junior guard Latasha Coney (Lyons/Lyons, N.Y.) produced her fourth consecutive career-high scoring effort, netting a game-high 24 points to go with a career-high matching 10 rebounds and a career-high matching five steals.

Coney was 9-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. All 10 of her rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor. Senior guard Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart/Watertown, N.Y.) rolled lucky sevens, scoring seven points, dishing out seven assists, and making a game-high seven steals. Graduate student Paula Foote (Sidney/Sidney, N.Y.) and first-year Ashlinn Barber (Spencer-Van Etten/Spencer, N.Y.) also contributed seven points apiece for William Smith.