LIBERTY LEAGUE NAMES PALMER

“FORWARD OF THE WEEK”

Feb. 26: St. Lawrence University junior Katie Palmer was named the “Forward of the Week” by the Liberty League for her efforts against Vassar and Rensselaer this weekend in the Capital District.

Palmer had a solid weekend on both ends of the floor for St. Lawrence as the Saints swept both the Brewers and Red Hawks to finish the 2007-08 regular season. The Bourne, MA native averaged 19.0 points per game this weekend, shooting 56% from the field. Palmer also pulled down 17 rebounds (8.5 rpg) and added two assists and a pair of steals.

The Liberty League also honored William Smith’s Marisa Vespa as the Guard of the Week and Clarkson’s Sierra Noles and Hamilton’s Alex Sowinski as the Co-Rookies of the Week.

The Saints will be the No. 2 seed in this weekend’s 2008 Liberty League Tournament as they square off with No. 3 Hamilton in Geneva, NY at 6:00pm on Friday, February 29. If the Scarlet and Brown advance, they will take on the winner of No. 1 William Smith and No. 4 Rensselaer in the championship game on Saturday, March 1 for an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

SAINTS END REGULAR SEASON

WITH 63-50 VICTORY OVER RPI

Feb. 22: Junior Katie Palmer turned in her best performance of the 2007-2008 season Saturday afternoon as the forward led the St. Lawrence women’s basketball team to a 63-50 win over conference opponent Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.  

St. Lawrence improves to 21-4 overall and 11-3 in the conference, while Rensselaer falls to 12-12 and 7-7. The Saints had already clinched the second seed in the 2008 Liberty League Tournament last night in their win over Vassar College. Despite their loss, the Red Hawks earned the fourth spot in the tournament next weekend, which will be held at William Smith, the Liberty League regular season champion.  

St. Lawrence started out the contest with 12 unanswered points in just the first three and a half minutes as the Red Hawks were haunted by six missed shots in their first seven possessions. The visiting team increased their lead by as many as 18 in the first half before Rensselaer trimmed it down to 10 after a 13-5 run down the stretch. The Saints held on to a 33-23 advantage as the buzzer sounded at the end of the period.  

The teams appeared much more evenly matched in the final 20 minutes of the contest, as Rensselaer continued its run to open the second half as Red Hawks Brittney O’Neal and Tory Lyons combined to score eight of the first nine points, bringing the Red Hawks within three points of the Saints at 34-31 with 15:44 left to go.

A 13-3 Saints run gave the Saints control of the game as they led 47-34 with just under ten minutes to play. St. Lawrence held at least a seven point advantage the rest of the way, thanks to their perfection from the charity stripe, which added 16 points to the Saints’ efforts in the final ten minutes of the contest.

The Scarlet and Brown’s defense inside forced the Red Hawks to take aim from three-point range, where they shot 3-for-20. Rensselaer was able to contain the Saints to only 18 points within the paint, but the visiting team was 63 percent from beyond the arc and 92 percent from the line, helping them to the 63-50 victory.

Leading the Saints was Palmer (Bourne, MA/Falmouth Academy), who had her best game of the season thus far, as the forward tallied a season-high 26 points and nine rebounds in just 29 minutes of the court. Palmer was 57 percent from the floor and 9-for-10 from the line.

Senior co-captain Jamie Wolff (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy) also added to the Saints’ efforts with 18 points, including four shots from three-point range, and a game high four steals. Wolff has posted 410 points in the regular season, the highest of any player in the Liberty League.  

The Scarlet and Brown will travel to Geneva, NY next Friday to face No. 3 seed Hamilton College in the semifinals. The Saints and Continentals are 1-1 against each other in 2007-2008, with St. Lawrence winning the most recent contest on February 16 th, 59-36. The match-up is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm.

SAINTS TOP VASSAR, 69-39

Feb. 22: The St. Lawrence women’s basketball team won their sixth game in a row Friday night, as the Saints defeated Liberty League opponent Vassar College 69-39 in Poughkeepsie, NY.

The Saints improved to 20-4 overall and 10-3 in the conference while earning the number two seed in the Liberty League tournament, where they will face number three seed Hamilton College at William Smith College next weekend. The Brewers fell to 4-17 overall and 0-13 in the league.

The Scarlet and Brown had 17 steals, which helped force the Brewers to turn the ball over 32 times. St. Lawrence was able to use that to their scoring advantage, grabbing 40 points off of Vassar’s turnovers.

Senior co-captains Sikule and Jamie Wolff ( Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy) tallied 15 points a piece for the Saints’ offense. Wolff was 50-percent from the field and perfect from the free throw line, while Sikule shot 6-for-10 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from three-point range. Both Saints had four assists, while Sikule grabbed a game-high four steals.

Palmer also posted impressive numbers for St. Lawrence, as she scored 12 points and had eight boards, while also tallying two assists and two steals in just 22 minutes on the court.

Vassar's Emily Haueser scored a game-high 18 points, with 14 of them coming in the second half.

The Saints will play RPI Saturday afternoon in their final game of the regular season, where they hope to avenge an earlier season loss to the Red Hawks. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00pm in Troy, NY.