Saints Escape Cardinals, 80-77

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University of Rochester
Cassie St. Hilaire '14 recorded a career-high 18 points on Saturday against SJFC.

Nov. 17:  The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team outlasted St. John Fisher in the third place game of the Chuck Resler Tournament, winning by the score of 80-77 in Rochester, NY on Saturday afternoon.  Sophomore Kara McDuffee had a career-high 24 points, including 6-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, and added six steals, six rebounds and two blocks in garnering All-Tournament Team honors for her performance over the weekend.  

"I really admired our players this weekend for gutting it out on back-to-back days with a banged up roster," said head coach Dan Roiger. "It was a fun game and we had a lot of players make some big plays for us today.  It was a good tournament for us against some good teams, and I'm happy we pulled out the split this weekend."

Four other Saints joined McDuffee in double figures, including junior co-captain Cassie St. Hilaire who recorded a career-high 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.  First-year student Lauren Quattrocchi provided a big spark down the stretch for the Saints, scoring 10 of her 15 points in the second half.  Junior Kelly Legg added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while first-year student Amanda Roberts contributed 10 points and five assists. 

The Saints broke out to their largest lead of the game with a 17-point run after Fisher took a 7-6 lead in the early going, making the score 23-7 at 12:19.  The Cardinals, however, rallied back to tie the game (42-42) on a jumper by Claire Walsh with 1:53 left in the half. 

The Saints, who took a 45-43 lead into the locker, were unable to pull away in the second half.  Fisher took the lead with 7:00 minutes to go (64-62), but a big three-pointer by Quattrocchi pulled the Saints ahead by four points (76-72) and they would not relinquish the lead. 

St. Hilaire and Roberts each made a pair of key free throws in the final minute to bring the score to 80-77.  The Cardinals had a bid at the end to tie the game that fell short. 

St. Lawrence will host Plattsburgh State on Tuesday, Nov. 27 in the home opener.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00pm in the Burkman Gymnasium.