PALMER, WOLFF RECEIVE WEEKLY CONFERENCE ACCOLADES

Mar. 3: Junior Katie Palmer and senior co-captain Jamie Wolff were named Liberty League players of the week on Monday, after leading the St. Lawrence women’s basketball team to wins over Hamilton and nationally-ranked William Smith on their way to the Liberty League Tournament title.

Palmer (Bourne, MA/Falmouth Academy) led the Saints' offense with 36 points over the weekend in the two wins over Hamilton and William Smith, helping her earn the conference’s ‘Co-Forward of the Week’ title. The forward had a team-high 19 points in their 75-70 2OT win over the Continentals on Friday, while also collecting six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. In the championship match up against the Herons, Palmer scored 17 points and grabbed nine boards and three assists.

Wolff ( Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy) had another exceptional weekend for the Saints as the guard had 35 points over the weekend and was named ‘Guard of the Week’ for her efforts. The guard had nine points and 11 assists versus the Continentals, only turning the ball over once. Against the Herons, Wolff had a game-high 26 points, shooting 8 of 14 from the floor and 67 percent from behind the arc. She also tallied five rebounds and two steals in the championship game.

Junior Sydney Fasulo from Hamilton shared Forward of the Week honors with Palmer.

The Saints, who are 23-4 overall, will travel to Grantham, PA later this week to meet the William Paterson University Pioneers (20-6) on the court in the first round of the NCAA tournament, hosted by Messiah College. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30pm.

WOLFF, PALMER LEAD SAINTS BACK TO NCAA TOURNEY WITH LIBERTY LEAGUE TITLE

Mar. 1: Senior Jamie Wolff scored 26 points and junior Katie Palmer chipped in with 17 points and nine rebounds as second seeded St. Lawrence won the 2008 Liberty League women’s basketball championship, beating top-seeded William Smith 62-53 in Geneva on Saturday.

The Saints, now 23-4, will make their second straight trip to the NCAA Division III tournament and their seventh since 1998 with the Liberty League’s automatic bid. William Smith, 23-3, is a likely at-large choice for the upcoming tournament.

The win was the ninth straight for the Saints and the second this season over the Herons. SLU’s last loss was at William Smith on Feb. 2.

Wolff hit four of six from three point range and had five rebounds to go with two assists and two steals, while Palmer, who led the Saints with 19 in the double overtime semifinal win over Hamilton on Friday, had three assists, two blocked shots and a steal to go with her 17 points and nine rebounds. Lauren Sischo was the third Saint in double figures with 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.

The game was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than four points in the first half. Palmer made two free throws and had a steal in the final minute of the half as the Saints went into intermission up 25-22.

William Smith built a five point lead on a steal and a layup by Paula Foote just over two minutes into the second half, but Wolff hit a three pointer and then fed Palmer for a layup to tie it again at 32-32 just over a minute later.

The Herons built five point leads four times in the first ten minutes of the second half, but the Saints kept battling back.

Kim Sikule’s layup with 2:38 to go tied the game for the eighth time at 53-53 and the Saints took the lead for good when Wolff canned two foul shots with 1:31 to play. Palmer put back her own rebound to make it 57-53 with 56 seconds to go and the Saints salted it away at the foul line, making five of six in the final 47 seconds for the nine point win.

Foote led the Herons with 19 points while Marisa Vespa added 11.

SAINTS ADVANCE WITH DOUBLE OVERTIME WIN IN LIBERTY LEAGUE SEMIFINAL

Feb. 29: Katie Palmer kept the St. Lawrence University women’s basketball team alive in the Liberty League semifinals against Hamilton at William Smith on Friday and senior Kim Sikule put the Saints in the championship game with four points and a steal in the final 2:07 of the second overtime in a 75-70 win over the Continentals.

The Saints, now 22-4, will play the winner of the second semifinal game between top seed William Smith and Rensselaer in the championship game at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Palmer twice foiled Hamilton’s upset bid as she made a layup with 23 seconds to go in regulation to tie the game at 57-57 and then made a free throw with 16 seconds to go in the first overtime period to force the second extra period. She finished with19 points including three of six from three point range and had six rebounds, four assists and two steals before fouling out with 3:16 to go in the second overtime.

Sikule and Amy Fortner took it from there for the Saints. Sikule fed Fortner for a layup with 2:44 to go to put the Saints up 69-66, and after Laura Wetmore pulled Hamilton to within a point, Sikule scored on a jumper with 2:07 left to re-establish the three point lead. Hamilton pulled to within one again with 43 seconds left on a layup by Pumla Sathula, but Fortner scored on a jumper with 20 seconds to go to make it 73-70 and Sikule rebounded a missed three pointer and was fouled, icing the game with two free throws with 10 seconds to play.

The game featured 11 ties as Hamilton battled back from an 11-point deficit in the final 4:09 of the first half and was down by just two at the intermission. Hamilton went up by four, 53-49 with 4:01 left, but consecutive layups by Brittany Parham tied it with 3:14 to play. Hamilton went back up by two with 1:16 to go in regulation, but Palmer tied it for the sixth time on two free throws with 1:06 to play and Sarah Shrader of Hamilton and Palmer swapped layups in the final minute of regulation to set up the first overtime.

The two teams traded points through the first 3:19 of the first overtime with Hamilton taking a 64-62 lead with 1:18 to go. Jamie Wolff made one of two free throws with 53 seconds to go and Palmer went one for two with 16 seconds left in the first overtime to set up the decisive second session.

Sikule finished with ten points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals while Parnham was perfect from the field and had ten points and three steals. Lauren Sischo scored 11 points and Wolff scored nine points and had 11 assists and three steals, playing the entire 50 minutes. Fortner went four for eight with six of her points coming in overtime and Jenna Krzemien scored eight points on four for five shooting.

The Saints shot over 50 percent from the floor in both the second half and overtime and had a 42-27 edge in rebounding.

Sydney Fasulo led Hamilton with 23 points and ten rebounds while Sathula added 15 points and Wetmore scored 12. The Continentals finish their season 15-10.