POTSDAM, NY – Senior captain
Jackie Cenan scored 22 points to lead the Vassar College women's basketball team to a 77-55 victory at Clarkson University in Liberty League action on Friday evening. The Brewers, who are in the midst of a four-game winning streak, improve to 13-5 overall and move to 9-2 in conference play. The Golden Knights are now 6-11 with a 2-9 mark in the Liberty League.
In addition to 22 points, which included a 4-for-5 performance from the free throw line, Cenan added three assists and three boards. Senior captain
Isa Peczuh added 14 points with three boards, two assists and a steal, while classmate and fellow captain,
Sophie Nick drained 11 points and a game-best 11 rebounds to go along with two assists. Sophomore guard
Sarah Gillooly had 12 points, including a block, a rebound, three assists and two steals.
Clarkson was paced by Hannah Earl, who had 19 points with three boards, two assists and two steals. Emma Buonanno added 16 points with five boards and three steals, while Mariah Benavides chipped in with nine points. Rachel Marion notched the team's only block, adding four rebounds, three points and an assist.
In the opening quarter, the Brewers opened up a tight game with a 4-0 run to make it 8-5 early. The Golden Knights battled back closing the gap to 10-7, but a
Dani Douglas three at 4:54 pushed the margin to 15-7 in favor of the visitors. Cenan laid down another three for VC to open a nine-point edge (18-9).
Clarkson cut the deficit to four (18-14) behind a trey from Marion, but another 4-0 run sparked by a jumper from Peczuh continued to push the Brewers ahead as they headed into the first break up by a 26-19 margin.
Second quarter action saw Gillooly nail a shot at 9:07 to make it a 30-19 game, but shots from Earl. Buonanno and Benavides dug into the Vassar lead to flip the score to 30-25 with 5:04 remaining in the quarter.
Despite that momentum, Clarkson was unable to hold off the Brewers as back-to-back three-pointers from Douglas and Cenan gave VC an 11-point edge once again. Vassar used that momentum following a Golden Knights timeout at 4:21 to force a shot clock violation, as Peczuh nailed another three at 3:33.
Another three-pointer, this time from senior captain
Sophie Nick, pushed the Vassar lead to 42-27. Bunonanno then poured in back-to-back jumpers to make it a 44-31 lead for the Brewers. Before the break, Gillooly capped the scoring with the team's seventh trey of the half for a 47-31 margin at half.
Out of the break, the Brewers capitalized, building up a 14-point advantage (53-39) behind buckets from juniors
Natalie Pettirossi and
Ryan DeOrio, along with Cenan. The VC offense continued to roll from there as Cenan and Gillooly each nailed shots from beyond the arc to give the Brewers a 20-point lead (59-39) with 1:48 to go.
Final quarter action saw Cenan strike first, draining the Brewers 10th three-pointer of the game just four seconds in for a 62-41 edge. Buonanno laid down a jumper at 8:53, but the two teams saw the defense take over as neither squad scored again until the 6:42 mark on a shot from VC's Gillooly (64-43).
Back-to-back shots paced the Golden Knights back into the contest, but Vassar nailed down its 11th trey of the contest, this time from Peczuh. She went on to post another layup 30 seconds later – her 12th point of the game – to build a 73-49 edge at 3:01. Vassar's defense remained solid over the remainder of the contest to seal the victory.
Vassar shot 53.4% (31-58) from the floor and an impressive 42.3% (11-26) from three-point range. The Brewers held Clarkson to 25.0% (3-12) from beyond the arc, while the Golden Knights posted a 39.7% (23-58) mark from the floor.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as Vassar heads to St. Lawrence for a 2pm game, while the Golden Knights host Bard, also at 2pm.
