POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Trailing by nine points at halftime, the Vassar College women's basketball team used a 42-21 edge in the second half to defeat William Smith College by a 74-62 margin in Liberty League action on Saturday afternoon. The victory moves the Brewers to 17-6 overall and 13-3 in league action, while the Herons are now 13-10 with a 9-7 mark in the Liberty League.

Down by a 41-32 margin heading into the second half of the contest, the Brewers saw senior captains Jackie Cenan (Laguna Beach, CA), Sophie Nick (Denver, CO) and Isa Peczuh (Willington, CT) all record buckets, while a junior forward Natalie Pettirossi (Weston, MA) layup at 7:13 cut the Herons' edge to 43-41. A layup by freshman forward Lauren Devaney (Geneva, NY) opened up a four-point edge once again (49-45), but VC was able to close the gap at 2:06 as Cenan tied it at 49-all and sank an ensuing free throw for the go-ahead point (50-49).

The two teams traded the lead as a free throw from sophomore forward Olivia Parisi (Fairfield, CT) tied it once more, followed by a Nick layup and a Parisi jumper to knot it at 52-52 at the 1:27 mark. The Brewers answered the final call of the quarter as Nick charged down the court to drain a layup and give the home team the 54-52 edge into the final period of play.

Vassar opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run, but it was halted as junior guard Stavriana Dimitrakopoulou (Athens, Greece) buried a three-pointer on the outside to close the gap to five (60-55) at the 6:42 mark. Despite that momentum for the Herons, VC quickly poured the pressure back on, building up a 10-point edge with 1:30 to play on a layup by Peczuh.

William Smith capitalized at the free throw line twice over the final 1:15, but the Brewers defense proved too much.

First half action was owned by the Herons, who despite trailing early in the first, tied things up on back-to-back three pointers from sophomore guard Stella Davis (Dublin, NH) for an 8-8 score at the 7:23 mark. Consecutive three's - this time from senior guard Annaliese Schreder (Lancaster, PA) - gave the visitors a 16-11 edge and a 5-2 run over the final 2:30 sent William Smith into the second quarter with a 23-17 advantage.

Second quarter action saw the team's open at an even clip, trading baskets once more, until another trey from Davis pushed the lead to a 30-22 margin at 7:48. That margin quickly widened thanks to Devaney and Parisi as they poured in consecutive buckets to open a 12-point (34-22) edge. Cenan answered for the Brewers with three straight baskets and a pair of jumpers by Nick at the end of the quarter cut the deficit to nine for Vassar at half.

Vassar was led by Cenan, who recorded a game-high 23 points, adding three rebounds, five assists and three steals. Nick added 20 points and nine boards with an assist, a block and a steal, while Peczuh and junior Ryan DeOrio each had nine points in the contest, recording six and five caroms, respectively.

William Smith saw five players reach double-figures, paced by Dimitrakopoulou and Parisi, who each had 14 points. Davis added 12 points, while Schreder had 11 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Maddy Malicki (Cohoes, NY) also posted nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Christina Mitrow (Whitehouse Station, NJ) added a team-best three assists.

Today's game also marked Senior Day as Nick, Cenan and Peczuh were honored. The Brewers also recognized William Smith seniors Schreder and Emma Gallagher (Redding, CT) before the game.

Both teams are back in action next weekend - which is the final weekend of the regular season. Vassar is on the road, taking on league-leading Ithaca on Friday at 5:30pm, while William Smith hosts Bard - also at 5:30pm.