St. Petersburg, FL – The Vassar College Women's Basketball team closed out the 2024 portion of the schedule Monday afternoon at the St. Pete Classic with a 69-58 defeat at the hands of #24/14 Catholic. Junior
Sierra McDermed (San Antonio, TX) led the scoring attack with 19 points for the Brewers.
Monday's loss, Vassar's second straight defeat, drops the Brewers to 5-4 overall on the season, while the Cardinals improve to 10-1.
First Half
- The Brewers were held to just one field goal over the course of the first quarter on Monday, getting their only bucket of the frame on a Maddie Ahearn (Bethlehem, PA) three-pointer with eight seconds left in the period.
- Catholic held a lead as large as nine points, at 15-6, prior to the Ahearn triple and carried a 15-9 lead into the second stanza.
- Vassar climbed to within four points on a McDermed bucket to open the second quarter, but an 8-2 spurt, capped by an Anna Scoblick bucket, pushed the Cardinals in front 23-13 with 7:01 left in the half.
- The Brewers would not get closer than seven points the remainder of the period and Catholic grabbed a game-high 14-point lead on a Carly Mulvaney layup to make the score 33-19 with four minutes left before the break.
- Vassar whittled its disadvantage down to 33-25 on a Julia Harvey (Delmar, NY) three-pointer with 1:36 left to play in the quarter.
- Catholic answered with a Mulvaney three-pointer to spread the lead back to double-figures ahead of two McDermed free-throws that made the score 36-27 in favor of Catholic at the intermission.
- Vassar was held to 26.9-percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes, but went 5-for-12 from three-point range.
- Catholic converted at 41.9-percent overall and went 6-for-13 from behind the arc.
- Harvey led Vassar at the break with 10 points.
- Mulvaney paced the Cardinals with 10 first half tallies.
Second Half
- Vassar outscored Catholic 15-11 in the third period to pull to within five points with 10 minutes left to play.
- After Catholic pushed its lead to 41-29, the Brewers put together a 9-0 run to slice its deficit to 41-38.
- Tova Gelb (Sharon, MA) started the run with a three-pointer and Caroline Siekman (Islesboro, ME) keyed the spurt with five points.
- The Cardinals quickly spread their lead back to nine points with a 6-0 stretch before Vassar scored the final four points of the period to make the score 47-42 with 10 minutes left in the tilt.
- Mulvaney pushed the Catholic lead back to 52-42 with a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter and the Cardinals would not allow the Brewers closer than six points the rest of the way.
- Catholic would hold a lead as large as 11 points on three occasions throughout the fourth quarter, including after a pair of Mulvaney free-throws in the closing seconds that made the score the final 69-58 decision.
- Vassar improved to 36.4-percent shooting after halftime, but went 2-for-11 from three-point range.
- Catholic knocked down a pair of triples in the second half and finished the final 20 minutes shooting 42.3-percent.
For the Brewers
- McDermed went 7-for-14 from the field on Monday and scored 12 of her team-high 19 points in the second half. McDermed added seven rebounds and three assists for the Brewers.
- Harvey netted 16 points for Vassar, connecting on a pair of three-pointers, to go along with seven boards and a pair of steals.
- Gelb finished with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
- Ahearn knocked down a pair of triples on the way to six points to go along with a pair of steals.
- Siekman came off the bench to supply eight points and seven caroms while joining McDermed with a team-high three assists.
For The Cardinals
- Mulvaney led all scorers with 20 points after going 7-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-8 from three-point range, Mulvaney closed out the win with game-highs of nine rebounds and five steals.
- Scoblick finished with 16 points and joined Mulvaney with a game-high nine rebounds.
- Kerry Flaherty totaled 11 points, two assists and a pair of steals.
- Keegan Douglas led all players with four assists and chipped in 10 points.
Game Statistics
- Vassar shot 32.2-percent overall for the game and went 7-for-23 from behind the arc.
- Catholic converted at 42.1-percent and finished 8-for-21 from three-point range.
- Catholic finished with a 28-18 advantage in points in the paint.
- The Cardinals controlled the transition game with a 16-0 edge in fast break points.
What's Next
- Vassar returns home to open the New Year with its non-conference finale against Mount Saint Mary College on January 4.
- Catholic heads to Lycoming for a Landmark Conference tilt on January 8.
