NAPLES, FL – Despite a 22-point effort from senior
Isa Peczuh, the Vassar College women's basketball team fell to nationally-ranked Bethel University, 78-67, at the Naples Shootout on Sunday morning. The Royals, who are ranked #20 in the latest WBCA poll and #25 in the D3Hoops.com Poll, remain undefeated on the season and are now 9-0. The Brewers, who were facing the Royals for the first time in program history, put on a solid effort, but ultimately drop to 5-4 overall.
Trailing by a 16-13 margin after the opening quarter of action, the Brewers found their momentum in the second stanza. Behind an 8-2 run, which opened with a three-pointer from sophomore
Sarah Gillooly (Stow, MA), Vassar tied the contest at 23-all at the 6:32 mark as
Skylar Schmid (Natick, MA) nailed her layup.
Bethel battled back to regain a 27-25 lead on a trey from junior Makenna Pearson (Blaine, MN) at 5:41, but it was all Vassar to end the stanza as the Brewers tied the game once more (31-31) with 1:05 to play on a pair of makes at the line by senior
Isa Peczuh, followed by a jumper from Gillooly to put the home team ahead at the 30 second mark. Peczuh then nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to send VC into halftime with a 36-31 advantage.
The Brewers momentum carried right into the third quarter with a 5-0 opening run, spearheaded by three points from Peczuh (Willington, CT), which included a jumper just seconds into the frame. Despite the drive, which led to a 45-38 edge with 5:02 to play, the Royals came charging back. Pearson closed the gap to two (47-45) with a three-pointer, while junior Michaela Craigan (Hugo, MN) tied the contest at 49-all at 2:24.
Bethel used an 8-0 run over the final 1:49, including another trey from Pearson, to grab a 57-49 lead, but the Brewers connected at the buzzer once again as Schmid landed a jumper to cut the deficit to 57-51 heading into the final quarter of play.
In the fourth quarter, Bethel pressed hard, rebuilding its advantage as a five-point lead turned into a eight-point (64-56) edge with 3:30 to play following an Anderson free throw make. A trey and an ensuing free throw from Peczuh closed the gap to six (67-61) for the Brewers, but the Royals opened up a double-figure lead minutes later.
Freshman Emma Schwarz (Eden Valley, MN) nailed a layup with 1:21 remaining to give Bethel the 71-61 advantage, while free throws at 1:03 from Brown-Erdal pushed it to a 73-63 margin. Vassar senior
Jackie Cenan (Laguna Beach, CA) drained a pair of shots at the line to but it back to 10 (73-63) with 59 seconds to play, but Bethel continued to capitalize at the free throw line as senior Haylee Barker (Maple Grove, MN) nailed three for a 76-65 lead at 40 seconds to go.
Peczuh drained another layup for her team-leading 22nd-point of the contest, but the Royals held on over the final seconds to remain perfect on the season.
Pearson led all players in the contest with 24 points, including 6-of-11 from three-point range. Barker added 16 points and a game-high 11 steals, while senior Taite Anderson (White Bear Lake, MN) had 12 points.
For Vassar, Peczuh added five rebounds in addition to her 22 points. Gillooly finished with 12 points, while Cenan added eight points with five assists.
The Brewers are back in action on Monday at 4:30pm when they square-off against Castleton University in their final game of the Shootout. Bethel is also in action on Monday in a 6:30pm tilt against Salisbury in Naples.
