Saints Out-fly Herons, 84-68

by: 

Tara Freeman

Sophomore Iris Santoni racked up a game-high 23 points Friday against William Smith.

Jan. 29:  Sophomore Iris Santoni racked up a game-high 23 points to help the St. Lawrence women's basketball team defeat conference opponent William Smith, 84-68 in the Burkman Gymnasium Friday night. 

The Saints improve to an 11-5 (3-3) overall record, while the Herons fall to a 5-11 (1-5) mark.

Santoni shot 6-of-11 from the floor to lead St. Lawrence and also picked up a game-high seven assists and a team-high four steals.  Sophomore Casey Capello trailed with 16 total points off 6-of-15 shooting, while classmate Katherine Edgerton rounded out the top three scorers with 15 points.  Rookie Erica Spera racked up a team-high nine rebounds, followed closely by Santoni who earned eight.

William Smith's Mollie Danahy, Julie Hooper, and Ashlinn Barber all earned 15 points, while Kristen Kush trailed with 12.  Barber also tallied a game-high 13 rebounds, while Danahy picked up a game-high five steals.

In the first half, the Saints were on fire from beyond the arc, shooting 62.5%.  They were able to move out to an early seven point lead as Capello nailed a three.  However, William Smith's Rubin sunk a jumper and a free-throw to cut the deficit to four.  Capello put the Saints back ahead by seven when she sunk another shot from beyond the arc, and Edgerton had the crowd on their feet as she followed suit less than a minute later.  With 13:45 on the clock, St. Lawrence led, 20-12.  However, Hooper continued the three-point streak, sparking a 9-0 run for her team, and giving William Smith the lead for the first time in the game, but Edgerton and sophomore Nyasha Miller responded with a pair of layups to tie the score at 24. 

The Saints were able to retake the lead, moving out to a ten point advantage with 4:45 left on the clock.  Santoni then tipped one in from underneath to give the Scarlet and Brown their largest lead of the half with a score of 40-28.  The Herons worked their way back to within eight points of St. Lawrence as Barber and Danahy hit a pair of layups, but Santoni nailed an easy jump shot to put the Saints back up by ten.  Barber ended the frame with a solid layup to make the score 44-36 as both teams entered the locker room.

"I liked the intensity and effort we had in the first half," St. Lawrence Head Coach Dan Roiger said.  We weren't playing perfectly, but we did play hard, made some adjustments as we went along, and kept attacking on offense."

The Saints continued to grab momentum in the second half, maintaining a 10 point advantage with roughly six minutes gone.  However, a pair of layups from Danahy and Baber brought the Herons back within six points of St. Lawrence.  With 10:15 on the clock, senior captain Brittany Parham nailed a three to increase the deficit to 11 with a score of 60-49, but William Smith remained in striking distance.  Kristen Kush posted two from in the paint to fuel a 6-2 run for the Herons and cut the deficit to one with 6:25 left in regulation.  However, the Saints climbed back on top as Capello scored one from underneath to increase the deficit to 11.  William Smith started to chip away as they came within seven points when Kush nailed a jumper, but it wasn't enough to erase the deficit.  The Saints were able to rack up some easy points late in the game after the Herons started to foul and walked away with the 84-68 victory.

"I really feel like this team is shedding some of their inexperience," Head Coach Dan Roiger said.  "We still had a tendency today to panic once in a while, but every time we took a timeout we regrouped and went on a run to get the momentum back.  I also felt like we really finished the game strong.  We had a couple of turnovers with about two minutes to go that forced us to take a timeout, but then the last minute we executed nearly perfectly.

Coach Roiger added, "It was a nice team win for us where everyone on the floor contributed in a positive way, and it was good to play well back to back after our win against Skidmore last weekend."

The Saints will take on conference opponent Hamilton College, Saturday, January 30^th in the Burkman Gymnasium.  Tip-off is set for 2:00 pm.