Saints Strike Back, Defeating Rensselaer, 62-38

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Tara Freeman
Sophomore Casey Capello led the Saints with a game-high 24 points against Rensselaer.

Feb. 6:  The St. Lawrence women's basketball team struck with comeback number two Saturday, as sophomore Casey Capello earned a game-high 24 points to help the Saints defeat Rensselaer, 62-38, in Troy, NY after losing to the Engineers earlier this season.

St. Lawrence improves to a 14-6 (6-4) overall record, while Rensselaer falls to a 12-8 (7-2) mark.

Capello shot 8-of-15 from the floor to lead her team and was supported by classmate Katherine Edgerton who racked up 15 points.  Rookie Erica Spera had a nice game, picking up a game-high 11 rebounds, while sophomores' Iris Santoni and Nyasha Miller each posted a game-high two assists.  Rensselaer's Allison Conner led her team with 11 points off 4-of-14 shooting, while teammate Whitney Coleman totaled a team-high nine rebounds and a game-high two assists.

"We played excellent defense today,"  St. Lawrence Head Coach Dan Roiger said.  "Katie and Casey did a great job on two tough guards, and our posts were outstanding in being prepared to help at all times.  That is a really good offensive team and we played great team defense today."

The Saints got on the board early in the first half and managed to hold the Engineers at zero points for roughly the opening seven and a half minutes.  In fact, both teams went scoreless from the 18:31 mark until 14:21 when Miller broke the streak by chipping one in off the glass (10-0).  Nicole Monroe finally put Rensselaer on the scoreboard as she nailed a jump shot with 13:41 left in the frame and after a tough start to the half, the Engineers were able to crawl their way back to within four points of the Saints as Coleman responded with another jumper (10-6).  However, the Saints reciprocated, earning their largest lead of the half with a 12 point advantage as the clock hit 5:30.  As the frame came to a close, the Engineers were able to get something going and cut the deficit to six with under a minute left when Connor posted two off a layup.  However, St. Lawrence closed the opening 20 minutes on a high note with Santoni tipping one in from underneath, followed by a last second three-pointer from Capello, making the score 31-20.

St. Lawrence continued to put the offensive pressure on Rensselaer in the second half, moving out to a 20 point lead in the first 12 minutes, thanks to impressive shooting by Capello, Spera, and Edgerton.  With 7:04 left in regulation, Edgerton sunk back-to-back free-throws to give the Saints their largest lead of the game with 27 points (55-30).  Although the Engineers were able to cut the deficit to 20 points as Connor hit a shot from beyond the arc, they couldn't seem to break the 20 point barrier.  The Saints closed the half with some solid free-throw shooting from Edgerton, Santoni, and sophomore Alyssa Brown, securing the 62-38 victory.

"This was an excellent weekend for us to go on the road and get two wins against two teams that beat us at home," Head Coach Roiger said.  "The women should feel great about executing two game plans to near perfection this weekend.  Now we face two more tough teams on the road next weekend."

The Saints look to avenge conference opponent Hamilton College, Friday, February 12th in Clinton, NY, after falling to the Continentals 62-50, earlier this season.  Tip-off is set for 6:00 pm.