Box Score

RIVERDALE, NY (November 15, 2011) – The Vassar College women's basketball team built a 41-19 halftime lead against the College of Mount St. Vincent, saw it shrink to six points in the second half, but stepped on the gas down the stretch in pulling away for a decisive 74-54 victory in the season opener on Tuesday night at Peter Jay Sharp Center.

The Brewers, who shot 53 percent in the first half in building a 22-point halftime lead, saw the host Dolphins mount a strong comeback to pull within 45-39, but with sophomore guard Cydni Matsuoka scoring 10 of her game-high 16 points in the second half, including four points in 39 seconds off patented jumpers, Vassar cruised to the 20-point victory.

The Brewers (1-0) will next host Cedar Crest College in the VC Invitational on Saturday, November 19 at 2:00 p.m. Mount St. Vincent (0-1) will face D'Youville College on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the Max Ziel Women's Basketball Tournament at SUNY Oswego.

Vassar played its deep bench, with 11 players seeing action and nine figuring in the scoring. Senior Kristyn Tempora, who missed last season, made her return to action a productive one, pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds with 10 points. Tempora scored eight of those points in the first half when the Brewers built their sizeable lead. Matsuoka led all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-14 from the field and added a career-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard Brittany Parks had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Mount St. Vincent got 12 points and seven rebounds from sophomore guard Sarah Kluth and 10 points from junior guard Andree Deleon.

Leading 41-19 at intermission, the Dolphins were able to close within six points at 45-39 with 13:29 to play following a jumper by senior forward Brittany Griffin, which culminated a 20-4 Mount St. Vincent run. However,the Dolphins would come no closer.

Vassar bounced back over the next four minutes to build a 54-39 lead with 9:45 to play. In the next three minute span, starting at the 6:14 mark, Matsuoka would connect on two jumpers, freshman forward Colleen O'Connell added one, Parks made a layup and freshman guard Nyah Berg connected on a jumper for a 68-46 Vassar lead that secured the win.

“We played the style of basketball that we wanted the first half,” said head coach Candice Brown. “We ran the ball and held them to 19 points. The second half they went on a little run, but we were able to weather the storm and come out with a win.”

The Brewers scored 14 fast break points. The Vassar defense held Mount St. Vincent to just two fast break points and 27 percent shooting from the floor.

Midway through the first half, the Brewers had built a 22-6 lead thanks to a 3-pointer by freshman forward Michelle Foreman. That double digit lead ballooned to 41-19 at intermission following four straight free throws by Matsuoka and Parks and a period ending layup by Matsuoka.

The Brewers, who led from start-to-finish, scored 22 points off turnovers and held a 38-22 edge in points in the paint.