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POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 23, 2010) – After a slow start, the Vassar College women's basketball team ramped-up its defensive intensity and took advantage of a fluid transition game to ease into Thanksgiving break with a 70-48 victory over Hunter College Tuesday evening at the Athletics & Fitness Center.

The key to victory was Vassar's presence inside the paint, overpowering Hunter with 32 points, 20 tallies which came in the second half. Vassar's 27 field goals were secured off 18 assists and aided by 13 offensive rebounds.

Vassar improves to 2-1 and travels to Hartwick College for a Sunday afternoon game at 3:00 p.m. Hunter drops to 1-3 and will next play John Jay College on November 30.

“This game was great preparation heading into Sunday's contest against Hartwick,” said head coach Candice Brown. “We came out slow in the first half, but we picked up our defensive focus and as a collective unit turned the game in our favor by doing the little things we practice each day.”

It took the Brewers nearly 11 minutes to take their first lead after a sluggish start saw them trail 7-2. A jumper by freshman guard Anielle Fredman with 9:30 remaining in the first half provided Vassar with its first lead, 15-14. While Hunter would temporarily take an 18-17 lead on a jumper by sophomore guard Johanna Keilwitz, once Vassar regained the lead at 23-20 on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Cydni Matsuoka, the Brewers never trailed again.

Vassar took a 33-28 lead into halftime and within the first six minutes of the second half had built a 41-28 lead on a layup by junior guard Brittany Parks, who led all scorers with 22 points, nine of which came in the second stanza on 4-of-8 shooting from the field. Parks connected on 9-of-18 shots from the floor and 3-of-4 from 3-point distance.

While Parks and Matsuoka (career best 20 points with five assists) keyed the 17 point second half differential, the primary factor was twofold. First, the Brewers limited Hunter to 25.9 percent shooting from the floor (30.5 percent for the game). Secondly was the inside play of freshman forward Hannah Senftleber, who tallied 10 of her 12 points in the second half and was difficult to contain off the boards with five offensive and eight defensive rebounds.

The Brewers methodically pulled away from the Hawks and following a layup in the paint by freshman forward Victoria Morgan had increased their lead to 59-42 with 4:20 to play.

Morgan had seven points for the Brewers. Fredman and sophomore forward Natalie Allen each had four points. Every Vassar player saw action and had at least one of the team's 43 rebounds.

Playing with a short bench, the Hawks could mount a comeback, but got a yeoman's effort from freshman guard Nicole Leonard who had 17 points and nine rebounds. Keitwitz had 13 points and eight rebounds.