Poughkeepsie, NY – The Vassar College Women's Basketball team will play for its second straight Liberty League Championship Sunday afternoon when it travels to top-seeded Ithaca to take on the Bombers in the Liberty League Championship Final. Tip-off from Ithaca's Ben Light Gymnasium is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. with Live Stats and Video available for those unable to attend.
 
At A Glance
Vassar enters the league championship tournament with a 20-6 overall record and completed the conference schedule with 15 wins in 18 outings. Vassar won eight of its last nine games of the regular season and earned the second seed in the championship.
 
The Brewers clinched a berth into the final with a 67-51 semifinal victory over Skidmore on Friday.
 
Vassar features three players scoring in double-figures heading into Sunday's tilt led by 18.6 points per game from senior Tova Gelb (Sharon, MA). Gelb is averaging a double-double with a team-high 10.7 rebounds per night and adds 2.8 assists, 2.6 steals and a 1.2 blocks per game. Gelb is converting at 47.9-percent from the field and 78.6-percent from the free-throw line.
 
Gelb heads into Sunday's final leading the Liberty League in scoring, rebounding and steals and ranks second in field goal percentage, fifth in free-throw percentage, seventh in blocks and ninth in assists.
 
Junior Sierra McDermed (San Antonio, TX) checks in with 17.5 points per game for the Brewers and leads the team with 35.8 minutes per game and 3.6 assists per night. McDermed is shooting 46.1-percent from the field and is second on the team with 39 three-point field goals, knocking in 32.5 percent of her attempts from behind the arc. McDermed adds an even 80-percet conversion rate from the free-throw line and is good for just under two steals per outing.
 
McDermed leads the Liberty League in minutes played per game and is tied for the league lead in assists. McDermed ranks third in field goal percentage and fourth in free-throw percentage.
 
Julia Harvey (Delmar, NY) is good for 15.5 points per game and is the team leader in three-point field goals with 42, converting at 31.8-percent from bonus distance on the season. Harvey is tops on the team in free-throw percentage at 87.0-percent and checks in with just over five rebounds per contest.
 
Heading into Sunday's contest, Harvey is the Liberty League leader in free-throw percentage and is third in three-point field goals per game with 2.0. Harvey currently ranks third in the conference in scoring.
 
Each of Vassar's top three scorers reached 1,000 career points during the 2024-25 season with Havery reaching the milestone first against New Paltz on November 12. Gelb scored her 1,000^th point against RIT on January 18, a game in which she scored a single game program record 36 points. McDermed netted her 1,000^th career point on February 15 against RPI, a game in which she tallied 25 points.
 
Vassar is scoring 69.4 points per game as a team to date and leads the Liberty League in scoring offense. The Brewers are allowing just 57.7 points per game and lead the conference in scoring margin at 11.7.
 
Bomber Briefing
Ithaca earned the top seed in the league championship by completing the conference schedule with a 17-1 record, including a season sweep of Vassar. Ithaca enters Sunday's contest with a 19-7 overall record after topping RIT 64-48 in Friday's Semifinal.
 
Ithaca features four players averaging at least nine points per game, led by 9.6 from Anya Watkins. Emma Waite is good for 9.2 points per game with Elizabeth Majka and Annabella Yorio good for 9.0 and 9.1, respectively. Majka is converting at 53.7-percent from the field, while Watkins is shooting 46.1-percent.
 
Watkins is hauling in just shy of nine rebounds per game for the Bombers and Waite paces the team with 3.;6 helpers per outing.
 
Ithaca is third in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just over 57 points per game and is second only to Vassar in offense, averaging 65.6 points per night.
 
Regular Season Series
Ithaca took both regular season meetings in 2024-25, winning 75-69 in Ithaca on December 6 before taking a 78-74 overtime decision in Poughkeepsie in the regular season finale to clinch home court throughout the league championship.
 
Gelb led three Brewers in double-figures in the December meeting with 24 points as the Brewers shot nearly 44-percent from the field and made seven three-pointers. McDermed added 16 points and Maddie Ahearn (Bethlehem, PA) totaled 11 points.
 
Ithaca was led by 22 points from Majka who went 9-for-11 from the field as Ithaca shot just over 49-percent for the game and made eight triples.
 
In Poughkeepsie on February 22, Ithaca rallied from an eight-point third quarter deficit to force overtime before prevailing by four points in the extra frame.
 
McDermed and Gelb each scored 22 points for the Brewers with Harvey knocking down four three-pointers on the way to 20 points. Tash Thompson (Los Altos Hills, CA) came off the bench to supply seven points and five caroms for the Brewers.
 
Ithaca featured four players in double-figures led by 21 points from Zoraida Icabalceta who also handed out five assists. Watkins poured in 20 points with Tori Dreva coming off the bench to knock down five threes and score 15 points.
 
Recent History
Since the start of the 1993-94 season, Vassar and Ithaca have met 17 times with the Bombers holding the series advantage 13-4. Vassar had won three straight in the series until Ithaca's two victories this season.

Semifinal Vs. Skidmore

Vassar outscored Skidmore 41-23 in the second half in Friday's semifinal on the way to a 67-51 victory over the Thoroughbreds.
 
Gelb led all players with 25 points and 13 rebounds, with Harvey checking in with 20 points. McDermed chipped in 13 points and handed out four assists to go along with three blocks. Erin Lovett (Norwalk, CT) came off the bench to collected six rebounds and hand out two assists.
 
Vassar finished the game shooting 41.3-percent and knocked down seven three-pointers. The Brewers' defense held Skidmore to a 36.8-percent conversion rate and a 1-for-10 effort from behind the arc.

 
Performers Of The Week
Gelb, McDermed and Harvey have combined to win Liberty League Performer of the Week 11 times. Harvey earned the award on November 11, McDermed won the honor three times, including each of the last two weeks of the regular season and Gelb claimed seven honors, including five straight.
 
Recent Liberty League Championship History
Vassar is making its seventh straight appearance in the Liberty League Championship Tournament. The Brewers claimed the league crown in 2024, its fourth league championship and first since 2014.
 
Head Coach
Meredith Mesaris is in her second season on the Vassar sidelines and has mentored the Brewers to a 44-9 record.
 
Mesaris headlined the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year a season ago and was tabbed the D3Hoops.com Region III Coach of the Year and a WBCA Thirty under 30 honoree.
 
A standout player at the Division III level at Scranton, Mesaris scored 1,758 career points. Mesaris was named the Landmark Player of the Year as a senior and was selected as a WBCA All-American twice.
 
Vassar is Mesaris' first head coaching position, but she has been on the sidelines as an assistant at Hendrix, Williams, Dartmouth and Hartford.
 
What's At Stake
Sunday's winner will earn the Liberty League's automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Tournament.