Canton, NY – The Vassar College Women's Basketball team opened its weekend in the North Country Friday evening with a 68-59 loss at St. Lawrence. Senior
Sierra McDermed (San Antonio, TX) paced the Brewers with a season-high 23 points.
Vassar dips below the .500 mark overall on the season at 8-9 and falls to 7-3 against Liberty League opponents. St. Lawrence, who stops a seven-game losing streak to the Brewers, improves to 12-6 overall and 7-4 against conference rivals.
How It Happened
- St. Lawrence ran out of the gates on a 12-0 run highlighted by three-pointers from Norah Niesz and Jackie Malley.
- Vassar got on the board at the 5:18 mark of the first quarter with a McDermed bucket that started a 10-3 run to close the quarter.
- A Lindsey Shoulders (Glen Allen, VA) bucket with 1:18 left in the frame brought Vassar to within 15-10 through 10 minutes of play.
- St. Lawrence pushed its lead back out to 19-12 on a pair of Malley free-throws early in the second period.
- The Brewers would pull to within 19-18 on an Erin Lovett (Norwalk, CT) conversion with 5:00 left before halftime.
- The Saints would not relinquish the advantage in the half and after an Emery Mullen (Charlton, MA) bucket made the score 24-23, St. Lawrence got a Hannah Van Dyke triple in the closing seconds to send the Saints to the intermission leading 27-23.
- Vassar shot 36.7-percent over the opening 20 minutes and finished the half without a three-pointer in just two attempts.
- St. Lawrence shot 37.5-percent in the first half and went 3-for-5 from behind the arc.
- St. Lawrence spread its halftime advantage to nine points twice in the middle stages of the third period, before an 11-4 run to close the quarter brought Vassar to within 46-44 with 10 minutes left to play.
- Mullen started the run with a layup and Shoulders hit on a pair of free-throws to close out the scoring in the frame.
- Vassar took its only lead of the game when Ava Gurley (Austin, TX) converted a layup to push Vassar in front 48-47 early in the fourth quarter.
- Niesz answered quickly with a layup that started an 8-0 spurt, giving the Saints a 55-48 advantage with 6:02 left to play.
- A McDermed jumper with 2:11 remaining cut the St. Lawrenc advantage to 59-58 before the Saints scored nine of the final 10 points to secure the final 68-59 advantage.
- Vassar improved to 43.3-percent shooting after halftime, but struggled from three-point range after going 1-for-6.
- St. Lawrence converted at an efficient 56-percent in the second half and knocked down one of its two three-point attempts.
For The Brewers
- McDermed finished 9-for-18 from the floor for the Brewers, scoring a season-high 23 points and reaching the 20-point mark for the third time this season.
- McDermed posted her second double-double of the season with a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with two assists, a block and a steal.
- Shoulders poured in 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting and closed the night with five rebounds.
- Mullen chipped in six points, three rebounds and two assists.
- Maureen Regan (Oak Lawn, IL) scored five points and handed out two assists.
For The Saints
- St. Lawrence was led by 17 points from Niesz who went 7-for-13 from the field and added four rebounds and two assists.
- Elizabeth Flynn scored 16 points off the bench and closed a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds while swiping three steals.
- Malley chipped in nine points.
- Van Dyke and Izzy Caron each scored eight points with Van Dyke adding nine boards in the win.
Game Statistics
- Vassar shot an even 40-percent from the floor in the game and went 1-for-8 from behind the arc.
- St. Lawrence converted at 46.9-percent overall and went 4-for-7 from three-point range.
- The Saints held an 18-10 advantage in scoring from the free-throw line.
- St. Lawrence finished with a 13-5 edge in second chance scoring.
- Vassar outscored the Saints 44-34 in the paint.
What's Next
- Vassar takes on Clarkson Saturday afternoon.
- St. Lawrence plays host to Bard on Saturday.
