Box Score

CANTON, NY (February 25, 2012) – It's only fitting that the victory that earned the Vassar College women's basketball team a school record for victories in a season ended up being the biggest victory of the season. For an incomparable second year in a row, the Brewers are the Liberty League Champions and are headed to the NCAA Division III Championships. Vassar will learn its NCAA First Round opponent and location on Monday.

School record win No. 18, a 79-75 slugfest victory over St. Lawrence, was accomplished under adverse conditions and in dramatic fashion. The No. 1 seeded Saints (21-5), who had defeated the No. 3 Brewers (18-9) in both regular season games, carried an undefeated 17-0 record in Liberty League games and were playing before a raucous home fanbase.

Led by the calm determination of sophomore guard Cydni Matsuoka, who was named the Championship Most Valuable Player with a game-high 20 points, and the steely free throw shooting of sophomore forward Hannah Senftleber, who was 9-of-12 from the free throw line, the Brewers overcame a 73-70 deficit with under two minutes. Five Vassar players scored in double figures for a Brewer team that wouldn't wilt under pressure. Matsuoka added seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals to her MVP performance. Sentfleber was named to the All-Championship Team.

“I am so proud of our players,” said head coach Candice Brown. “They came into St. Lawrence for a second straight year and won a championship a lot of people doubted we could. We executed our game plan perfectly, defended the post and played with poise down the stretch.”

Down 73-70 with 1:47 to play, the Brewers made four straight free throws – two each from Senftleber and freshman forward Colleen O'Connell – to force the game's 18th tie at 73-73 and then edge ahead 74-73, a lead Vassar nursed home for the victory. In total, the Brewers connected on nine straight free throws during the nerve-racking final two minutes and were 16-of-18 in the second half. Senftleber calmly make four straight in the final 31 seconds of play, barely touching iron on each. Her last, with 19 seconds left, extended Vassar's lead to 78-75 after St. Lawrence senior guard Kelly Legg cut the lead to 76-75 following a driving layup from the right side.

The game was frenetic. It featured 18 ties and 19 lead changes and was tied five times alone in the final five minutes. St. Lawrence held two six point leads in the second half, the last coming at the 10:22 mark when freshman guard Adriana Spicer sank two free throws to put St. Lawrence up 54-48. A jumper from the top of the key from Matsuoka, a bucket inside from O'Connell along with two subsequent free throws from the league's co-Rookie of the Year, tied the contest at 54-54. Vassar's last field goal came with 4:01 to play on a 3-pointer from senior forward Kristyn Tempora that put the Brewers ahead 68-66. From that point, the game rocked back and forth until St. Lawrence's senior guard Iris Santoni made a layup for a 71-70 lead with 2:12 to play and Legg followed with another layup for a 73-70 lead with 1:47 remaining.

Then, the Brewers converted free throws with astounding confidence.

“I told our players that the game would come down to free throws,” said Brown. “I knew they would foul us, and our players knocked them down when it counted.”

Matsuoka's 14 first half points, seven of which came in the final minute of the half, enabled the Brewers to take a 39-36 lead into the break. She was the difference-maker, much like she was as a freshman in the same situation against the Saints in the league semifinals. The half was tied seven times, and neither team held larger than a four point lead. But Vassar had momentum.

"Everyone on the team worked so hard over the course of the season and we've had our ups and downs," said Matsuoka. "But what mattered most we can through. That's what championship teams do. Any doubt that people had about what we did last year was put to rest. That, in my opinion, was the true accomplishment for us."

Outside of Matsuoka's 20 points, the Brewers got 13 each from Tempora and Senftleber and 11 from O'Connell and senior guard Brittany Parks.

Senior guard Casey Capello and freshman guard Kara McDuffee had 16 and 14 points respectively for St. Lawrence, which remains in contention for an NCAA Division III At-Large Bid. The Saints will learn if the Liberty League has two teams in the NCAA Tournament on Monday when selections are announced.