Box Score Box Score

CLINTON, NY (February 18, 2011) – With a 64-52 victory over Hamilton College Friday evening, the Vassar College women's basketball clinched its first Liberty League playoff spot since the 2000-01 season.

As it currently stands, Vassar joins St. Lawrence, Union and William Smith in the Liberty Lelague playoffs. Seedings will be determined following Saturday's games. The Brewers (14-10, 8-5) last played in the league playoffs ten years ago. William Smith knocked Vassar from the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) playoffs 74-64. Coincidently, the Brewers will face William Smith on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the regular season finale. Hamilton drops to 8-14, 2-11 and hosts RPI on Saturday.

The Brewers broke free from a tightly contested opening 20 minutes with a 14-4 spurt to close out the first half leading 33-24. That 10-point cushion changed the game's fortunes for good and allowed the Brewers to carry that momentum into the second half. The scoring blitz was a team effort, with key baskets in the run coming from freshman forward Hannah Senftleber, sophomore forward Natalie Allen and a couple off the deft shooting arm of junior guard Brittany Parks.

A 3-pointer by Hamilton's Eliza Howe gave Hamilton its largest lead of the game, 12-7, with 14:08 to play in the first half. But once Parks connected on a 3-pointer of her own with 4:45 remaining until intermission, Vassar earned a 22-21 lead and never relinquished it from that point.

Freshman guard Cydni Matsuoka kept the Brewers stable in the first half, scoring 11 of Vassar's 33 points. It was her 19th straight game scoring in double figures. The Brewers Big Three of Matsuoka (21 points), Senftleber (17) and Parks (15) accounted for 19 of Vassar's 24 field goals.

In the second half, Matsuoka lifted Vassar to a 40-31 lead after draining a 3-pointer with 15:07 to play. Howe was able to get the Continentals within 44-39 with 11:25 remaining, but in the span of three minutes, the Brewers went on a game-deciding 13-3 run to increase their lead to 57-42 with 8:27 to play. Allen had four of her six points during this stretch and senior guard Carolyn Crampton connected on a big 3-pointer to keep the offensive pressure on.

While Hamilton's bench outscored Vassar's 10-0, it was Vassar's inside tandem of Senftleber and Allen that helped create a 22-12 advantage on baskets in the paint. Both teams shot well from the floor -- Vassar at 49 percent and Hamilton shooting 45 percent. Vassar held a slight 29-27 rebounding advantage with Parks and Senftleber leading the way with six boards each.

Howe led the Continentals with 16 points, Madie Harlem added 13 points and six rebounds. Lisa Olszewski led all rebounders with seven.