CANTON, NY (January 8, 2016) – Senior Colleen O'Connell (Maywood, NJ/Immaculate Heart Academy) had a three at the buzzer to tie the game, but it rimmed out as host St. Lawrence University escaped with a 59-56 victory over the Vassar College women's basketball team in the Liberty League opener for both teams.

With the game tied at 54 with 4:56 to play in regulation, SLU (7-2, 1-0 Liberty League) got four straight points from Jenny Scudder to take a 58-54 lead. After VC pulled to within two with 38 seconds left, the Brewers forced a stop but an offensive rebound forced Vassar to foul. After Caroline Dalton made one of her two freebies, Vassar had a chance to tie with two seconds left. After advancing the ball, VC had an attempt to tie it but the three-pointer at the buzzer just missed.

The Brewers fell behind early in the game 8-2, and watched as the host Saints took the game's largest lead of nine at 17-8 after a layup by Lauren Quattrocchi with two minutes to play in the first quarter. VC slowly trimmed the deficit down to two at 21-19 after a traditional three-point play by O'Connell, but SLU took a 31-27 advantage into halftime.

Vassar burst out of the gates in the second half, taking its first lead of the contest at 35-33 after a layup by senior Rose Serafini (Milton, ON/Milton District). After a timeout, St. Lawrence posted a 10-0 run to regain an eight-point lead at 43-35, eventually taking a 47-42 edge into the final period.

Senior Caitlin Drakeley (Woodbury, CT/Nonnewaug) posted her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Brewers, while sophomore Ariella Rosenthal (Mill Valley, CA/Redwood) added a game-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. O'Connell finished with 10 points for VC, and Serafini added eight points, seven boards and one block.

The Brewers shot 38.2 percent (21-55) from the floor, making six of the 12 shots from behind the arc. Vassar won the rebounding battle 37-35, but turned the ball over 17 times and shot 57.1 percent (8-14) from the line. Scudder and Cara Waterson each finished with 11 points for SLU, while Dalton posted nine points a game-best 12 boards.

VC returns to action tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. in more Liberty League action, taking on Clarkson University in Alumni Gymnasium in Potsdam, NY.