Springfield, MA – After trailing by 14 points in the third quarter, the Vassar College Women's Basketball team outscored Western New England 23-10 in the fourth quarter on its way to a 72-65 victory over the Golden Bears and the Western New England Tip-Off Tournament title.
Sierra McDermed (San Antonio, TX) tallied a game-high 19 points on the way to being named All-Tournament, while
Naiya Kurnik (Fallbrook, CA) scored 18 points and earned the event's MVP honor.
Saturday's victory improves Vassar to 3-1 overall on the season, with Western New England slipping to 3-2 through the season's first five games.
First Half
- A high scoring first quarter saw Vassar carry a 23-20 advantage into the second stanza.
- The Brewers shot 58.8-percent over the first 10 minutes, including a 3-for-7 clip from three-point range.
- The Brewers opened a 9-4 lead on a Julia Harvey (Delmar, NY) three-pointer 2:29 into the contest.
- Vassar spread its lead to 14-6 just over a minute later on a McDermed conversion in transition.
- Western New England pulled to within a single point twice in the final 2:17 of the opening quarter, but Vassar answered with buckets on each occasion to take the three-point lead after 10 minutes.
- Maddie Ahearn (Bethlehem, PA) canned a triple to open the second quarter scoring, giving the Brewers a 26-20 lead.
- The Golden Bears answered with a 10-2 run to surge in front 30-28 on a Lindsey Carey triple 2:46 into the stanza.
- Western New England expanded its run to 16-2 on its way to opening a 36-28 lead with 4:16 left before halftime.
- The Western New England lead grew to double-figures on a Caitlyn Hunt three-pointer with 1:59 left before halftime.
- Bella Tawney (Simsbury, CT) closed out the scoring in the half with a pair of free-throws, sending the two sides into the intermission with Vassar trailing 41-33.
- Vassar went just 2-for-13 from the floor in the second period and finished the half shooting an even 40-percent.
- Western New England converted at 47.1-percent in the second quarter and went 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
- The Golden Bears went into halftime converting at 50-percent overall and from three-point range.
Second Half
- The Golden Bears came out of halftime with the first five points to push their advantage to 46-33 early in the third frame.
- Vassar's deficit reached a game-high 14 points at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter when a Tara Laugeni bucket gave the Golden Bears a 50-36 lead.
- Tova Gelb (Sharon, MA) scored six points in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter to bring Vassar to within 55-49 with 10 minutes left to play.
- Western New England held on to its advantage until the 7:48 mark of the fourth period when an Ahearn triple knotted the score at 57-57.
- The Ahearn triple was part of a 16-0 run for the Brewers capped by a Kurnik three-pointer that gave the Brewers a 67-57 lead with 4:30 left to play.
- Western New England would get as close as five points the rest of the way, but would not be able to get closer than that.
- Vassar shot a blistering 53.9-percent in the fourth stanza, including a 4-for-7 mark from three-point range as it outscored Western New England by 13 in the final 10 minutes.
- The Brewers converted at 40.7-percent overall after halftime and went 4-for-9 from bonus distance.
- The Vassar defense limited Western New England to 24.1-percent shooting after the break and a 1-for-10 effort from three-point range.
For The Brewers
- McDermed led three Brewers in double-figures with a game-high 19 points, going 5-for-14 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers to go along with five rebounds.
- Kurnik poured in a season-high 18 points on an efficient 7-for-10 shooting effort that included a pair of three-pointers. Kurnik added three rebounds and an assist to the winning effort.
- Gelb finished with 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field and 5-for-8 shooting from the charity stripe. Gelb added team-highs in rebounds with eight and steals with four while matching the team-high with three assists.
- Harvey rounded out the victory with eight points, an assist and a steal.
- Ahearn hit two big three-pointers to finish with six points.
- Tawney chipped in four points and three rebounds while matching Gelb with a team-high three assists.
For The Golden Bears
- Lilly Hedge led the way with a team-high 14 points, adding two assists and two steals.
- Shaina Conney recorded 10 points and six rebounds.
- Emma Kahn totaled eight points, five rebounds and a game-high four assists.
Game Statistics
- Vassar shot 40.4-percent overall for the game and an even 40-percent from three-point range with eight makes.
- Western New England finished the game converting at 38.5-percent overall and went 4-for-16 from three-point range.
- Vassar outscored Western New England 18-11 from the free-throw line and converted at 78.3-percent from the charity stripe.
What's Next
- Vassar heads to the West Coast to take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps as part of the David Wells Classic on November 24.
- Western New England plays host to Eastern Connecticut on Tuesday.
