ITHACA, NY – Powered by double-figure efforts from its starting lineup, third-seeded St. Lawrence University posted an 80-63 victory over second-seeded Vassar College in the Semifinals of the Liberty League Championship at Ben Light Gym on the campus of Ithaca College. The Saints improve to 21-4 and advance to Sunday's Championship Final to play top-seeded Ithaca. The Brewers move to 17-7 overall.

St. Lawrence got off to a hot start to open the game, going on an 11-4 run to start with five of the 11 points coming from Ava McCann. Following a McCann three at the 6:41 mark (14-4), the Brewers battled back with an 11-3 run to make it a 17-15 Saints lead with 3:27 in the frame. Four of the points in the run came from senior captain Sarah Gillooly.

Despite that momentum, the Saints saw Olivia Middleton drop in a three-pointer and a pair of free throw makes from McCann in the final 41 seconds of the frame sent St. Lawrence into the second stanza with the 22-19 advantage.

The Saints looked to pull away in the second stanza, but a three by senior captain Dani Douglas closed the gap to 26-22 at 8:34 of the frame. Another three – this one from rookie Tash Thompson – followed to make it a one-point (26-25) contest, but SLU once again opened a five-point margin behind a Middleton jumper at 5:33.

Douglas sank a layup at the 3:58 mark to close the score to two (32-30), but St. Lawrence saw Katie Frederick drop in three of four free throws to grab the 35-30 lead. Douglas drained another three at 2:39, but a layup and back-to-back three's from Dylan Watkiss saw the Saints take a 43-36 lead into the intermission.

Third quarter action opened with back-and-forth buckets, but St. Lawrence continued to hold the upper hand as a Barringer layup pushed the score to 47-38. A pair of free throws from rookie Julia Harvey made it a seven-point (47-40) contest at 8:27, but SLU scored the next four points to further widen the margin (51-40).

Junior Alex Lee dropped in a layup at the 6:24 mark to make it 53-44, but the Saints continued to take advantage at the free throw line as Barringer dropped in a pair, following that up with a three-pointer for the 58-47 lead at 5:28.

Gillooly sank a pair of free throws and junior captain Eliza Srinivasan posted one of her two shots from the line at 3:50, but St. Lawrence headed into the final quarter of action with a 10-point (60-50) lead.
In the final quarter of play, the Saints opened with a 7-0 run, stopped at the 7:14 mark as Gillooly drained a jumper to make it a 67-52 score. St. Lawrence continued to press, opening the margin further until a Douglas three-pointer at 4:16 stopped the momentum for a 71-55 margin.

A Harvey layup and free throw closed the gap to 75-61 at the 2:48 mark, but a Barringer layup, coupled with a Watkiss three opened a 78-61 advantage for the Saints that the Brewers could not come back from down the stretch.

The Saints were led by double-figure efforts from their starting five, led by Middleton with 17 points. She also added four rebounds and five assists with a steal. Frederick completed the double-double with 13 points and a game-high 20 rebounds, adding four assists, while McCann dropped in 16 points with three steals. Barringer posted 14 points with 11 boards for the double-double, while Watkiss added 12 points.

For the Brewers, Gillooly poured in 16 points with six boards, two assists and a steal. Douglas added 15 points with four boards, contributing three assists and two steals, while Harvey added 14 points with five boards and two steals. Srinivasan added nine points on the afternoon.