POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Senior
Eliza Srinivasan led all scorers with 16 points as the Vassar College Women's Basketball team used a second quarter surge to defeat St. Lawrence 75-57 on Friday evening at the AFC Gymnasium. Vassar improved to 11-7 and 8-3 in conference play while St. Lawrence falls to 7-7 overall and 4-5 in Liberty League action.
St. Lawrence opened the contest on an early 10-2 run as the Saints got triples from Hannah Van Dyke and Jackie Malley along with a lay-in from Olivia Barringer and Olivia Middleton. Vassar trimmed the lead down to 12-7 following a layup from freshman
Sierra McDermed and a three-pointer from sophomore
Tash Thompson with 5:21 left in the opening quarter. Following a quick five point run to get the Saints lead up to double digits (17-7), the Brewers closed the quarter on a 9-0 run as four different players scored, including a three-pointer from freshman
Maddie Ahearn to cut the lead to 17-16.
Vassar took its first lead of the game with the first possession of the second quarter on a bucket from sophomore
Tova Gelb (18-17). The Brewers run grew to 21 straight points at the 5:56 mark as senior
Eliza Srinivasan's driving layup pushed Vassar's lead to double digits (28-17) before the run was halted by a bucket from St. Lawrence's Cam Roberts. Senior
Alex Lee canned two three-pointers in the last minute of the second half as Vassar outscored St. Lawrence 27-6 in the second quarter to hold a 43-23 advantage at the half.
Vassar's lead grew to 23 at the 5:29 mark of the third period as sophomore
Julia Harvey knocked down a three-pointer on a feed from Lee (54-31). The Brewers lead grew to as many as 26 in the third quarter as a jumper from freshman
Naiya Kurnik with 3:05 remaining put VC ahead 60-34. St. Lawrence scored seven straight points to cut the lead to 60-41 with 41 seconds left but a McDermed triple on the ensuing possession put Vassar up 63-41 at the end of three quarters.
The Saints went on a 12-5 run over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter as a layup from Middleton cut Vassar's lead to 68-53 with 4:02 remaining. A bucket from Kurnik returned the lead to 17 at the 3:40 mark while a conversion from freshman
Bella Tawney with 2:08 remaining put the Vassar lead to 72-54. Freshman
Margo Gramiak added two free throws with 59 seconds remaining to give Vassar a 75-57 Liberty League victory.
Srinivasan led all scorers with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting while adding a game-high seven assists, two rebounds and a steal. Harvey scored 15 points and chipped in five boards, two steals and an assist while Lee scored in double figures with 10 and added three rebounds and two assists. Gelb finished the contest with nine points, a game-high 10 rebounds and a team-high four steals.
Middleton and Malley each tallied 14 points for St. Lawrence as Middleton also added a team-high five assists and five steals while Malley had five rebounds. Van Dyke had seven points, four boards and two steals and Barringer added four points, five rebounds and two assists.
Vassar finished the night shooting a strong 43.3-percent from the field and made six three-pointers. The Saints finished shooting 33.9-percent overall and knocked down three triples. The Brewers converted 22 points off turnovers while St. Lawrence held the edge in second chance points at 11-9.
VC returns to action tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. for Senior Day against Clarkson at home while St. Lawrence travels to Bard to take on the Raptors at 2:00 p.m.
