SAINTS’ STRONG FIRST HALF PUSHES THEM PAST UNION, 62-47

Jan. 19: The first half proved to be key for the St. Lawrence women’s basketball team, who came out victorious over Liberty League opponent Union College Saturday afternoon, as the Saints’ strong defense was able to hold off the Dutchwomen, 62-47, in Burkman Gymnasium.

St. Lawrence forced Union to turn the ball over 14 times in the first 20 minutes and took advantage of those additional scoring opportunities by tallying 14 points off of the visiting team’s errors to help propel St. Lawrence into a significant lead in the first part of the game.

The Scarlet and Brown kept Union scoreless in the first six minutes while scoring six points of their own, and permanently increased their lead to double-digits with seven minutes to go in the first. The Saints were impressive defensively, as they were able to maintain possession and control the flow of the game while allowing minimal Union scoring opportunities, allowing only 18 shots in the period.

Junior guard Lauren Sischo (Rodman, NY/South Jefferson) led the Saints’ offense in the first half, scoring all 13 of her points in the contest in the first 20 minutes, including an exciting last second three-pointer from mid-court at the buzzer to push the Saints ahead 35-15 to end the period.

The second half saw the contest between the two teams become much more equal, as Union showed the Saints they were able to bounce back from a 20-point deficit by edging them 32-27 in the last half of the game. But the continuous hard work of the Saints both offensively and defensively kept the Dutchwomen from making a substantial comeback, and took home their tenth win in a row and their 12 th victory of the season, winning the game, 62-47.

Senior guard and co-captain Jamie Wolff ( Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy) who reached 1,000 career points in yesterday’s conference opener over Skidmore, led the Saints once again with a game-high 14 points, one assist and five rebounds. In addition to Sischo, junior Jenna Krzemien ( Springville, NY/Springville) also tallied double-digits, coming away with 12 points and six rebounds.

Senior co-captain Kim Sikule (Westerlo, NY/Berne-Knox Westerlo) had nine rebounds for the Saints, as well adding seven points and a game-high four steals to help the Saints to victory.

St. Lawrence, now 12-1 overall and 2-0 in the Liberty League, will face North Country rival Clarkson on Tuesday night. The game, which will be held in Burkman Gymnasium, is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm.