Box Score
Game Program
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 17, 2012) – The Vassar College women's basketball team kept its Liberty League playoff drive in tact with a start-to-finish 69-56 victory over Rochester Institute of Technology Friday evening at the Athletics & Fitness Center.
The Brewers, now 15-9, 9-6 in the Liberty League, currently sit in a three-way tie for second place with RPI and William Smith, all with identical league records. Vassar hosts William Smith on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Vassar will honor its graduating seniors
Brittany Parks and
Kristyn Tempora prior to the contest.
Vassar made quick work of the Tigers in a must win contest. Following a layup by Tempora with 14:04 to play in the first half, the Brewers led 16-4, a double figures margin that would remain the rest of the contest. When Parks connected on a nifty layup in the paint at the six minute mark, the Brewers led 28-13 and cruised into halftime with a substantial 41-23 lead thanks to five straight points from sophomore guard
Cydni Matsuoka. Vassar caused 22 RIT turnovers, but capitalized mostly in the first half by scoring 24 of its 41 points off the Tigers' miscues.
Despite a strong second half from junior guard Leslie Havens, who tallied 14 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, the Tigers found themselves in a 29-point deficit at 58-29 when Matsuoka connected on a jumper from the right hash with 13:21 to play. The lead remained above 20 points until the 3 minute marks when Havens made a driving layup to make the score 67-50.
With under two minutes to play, RIT scored the game's final six points, four of them coming off free throws from sophomore center Courtney Tennant.
Matsuoka led the Brewers with 17 points, scoring 13 of them in the first half when Vassar put the game out of reach. Freshman forward
Colleen O'Connell scored 12 points. Sophomore forward
Hannah Senftleber had a strong 11 points, 9 rebound outing. Parks tallied nine points, giving her 1,528 for a career, 13 points shy of becoming the program's all-time leading scorer.
Beside Havens' 23 points, RIT got 12 points and six rebounds from Tennant and 11 points from sophomore swing Kayla Wheeler.
