DOUBLE-DIGIT FIRST HALF LEAD SENDS SAINTS PAST VASSAR, 64-43

Jan. 26: The St. Lawrence University women’s basketball team rebounded from their first conference loss of the season last night against RPI to come back and take their fourth Liberty League win as the Saints defeated Vassar 64-43 in Burkman Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

Vassar was the first to get up on the scoreboard, but St. Lawrence junior Katie Palmer (Bourne, MA/Falmouth Academy) responded with a three-pointer to give St. Lawrence a 3-2 edge early on in the first.

A Saint turnover resulted in a lay-up by Brewers’ Emily Haeuser to give the lead back to Vassar, but Saints’ senior Amy Fortener ( Peachtree City, GA/Our Lady of Mercy) made a jumper to bring the home team back within one point of the Brewers.

Vassar would make another shot from the paint to increase their lead once more beforethe Scarlet and Brown would jump out ahead again after a three from junior Lauren Sischo (Rodman, NY/South Jefferson). Haeuser followed with a jumper to tie the game at 10-10 with 12:53 left in the first half.

Sophomore Brittany Parham(Fort Drum, NY/Indian River) sparked a critical 24-2 Saint run with a shot from three-point range, as the Saints were able to play strong defensively and only allow the Brewers to score once in a 10-minute span to give St. Lawrence a decisive 34-12 lead with 2:47 to go. Vassar’s Ashley Sherman put up two three’s for the Brewers in the final two and a half minutes, but a lay-up and a three-point shot from the top of the key by Palmer gave the Saints a 39-18 lead as the period ended.

Vassar came out in the second half and posted an 8-0 run of their own and were able to keep the Saints from scoring until there was 13:39 left in the game, cutting the home team’s lead from 21 at the end of the first to 13. First-year Abby Stanton ( Avon, NY/Avon Central) was the first to score for St. Lawrence in the last half of the game.

Both teams struggled in the middle of the second as neither was able to add any points to the scoreboard for nearly four minutes, but a lay-up by junior Jenna Krzemien ( Springville, NY/Springville) snapped the scoreless streak with 8:31 to go to give the Saints a 47-30 lead.

The Saints never relinquished their double-digit lead in the final minutes, although the Brewers were able to get as close as 11 points in with 6:02 left, but the Saints ended the game with a 15-5 run to take their fourth conference victory this season, 64-43.

St. Lawrence forced Vassar to turn the ball over 22 times and scored 25 points off of turnovers, while the home team only had six turnovers throughout the game.

Leading the way for the Saints’ offense was Palmer, who posted a game-high 18 points as well as adding 4 rebounds, two assists and a steal. Stanton also had an impressive game, scoring a career-high 13 points, shooting 4-for-7 from the floor and maintaining perfection from the line, making five free-throws.

St. Lawrence, now 14-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, will travel to Clinton, NY next Friday to play in their first conference game away from home against Hamilton College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00pm.

RPI EDGES SAINTS, 53-44

Jan. 25: The St. Lawrence women’s basketball team suffered their first conference loss of the season Friday night as the Saints fought for 40 minutes against an evenly-matched RPI squad, but Red Hawks prevailed, winning the game 53-44 in Liberty League action in Burkman Gymnasium.

It was the Saints’ first loss since November 20 th, when they were upended by Potsdam State.

RPI started out with six unanswered points in the first 3:37 of the game, but the Saints responded with a jumper by junior Katie Palmer (Bourne, MA/Falmouth Academy) and two shots from three point range from senior Jamie Wolff (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy) to tie the game 8-8 with 13:18 left in the first half.

The Saints were unable to get past the strong defense of the Red Hawks in the first 20 minutes and never took the lead, but were able to keep it a one or two possession game, only allowing RPI to increase their lead to six at two different points in the half. St. Lawrence made it a two-point game with 1:05 left on the clock, but the Red Hawks’ Missy Jackman, who led RPI’s offense in the first period, made a three with 17 seconds left to give her team a 28-23 edge heading into halftime.

The second half brought the only two lead changes of the game, as the Scarlet and Brown took the lead after Palmer posted two from the free-throw line with 9:04 remaining to give St. Lawrence a 40-38 edge over the Red Hawks, who would promptly answer with a layup by Tory Lyons to tie the game for the eighth time with 40 points a piece.

That would prove to be the only time the Saints would lead, despite Palmer tying the game once more 44-44 with 3:05 to go, but RPI’s tough defense kept the Saints scoreless in those last minutes as they ended the game with a 9-0 run.

Palmer led the Saints with 15 points, while Wolff tallied 10. RPI’s Elizabeth Barker earned a double-double, scoring a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds.

St. Lawrence, now 13-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, will face Vassar College Saturday afternoon in conference play. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00pm in Burkman Gym.

PALMER FUELS SAINTS’ 70-48 VICTORY

OVER CLARKSON

Jan. 22: Junior Forward Katie Palmer scored 15 crucial points in the second half to help drive the St. Lawrence women’s basketball team over neighboring rival and Liberty League opponent Clarkson Tuesday night, as the Saints were able to improve on a two-point lead at halftime to a 70-48 win over the Golden Knights in Burkman Gymnasium.

At one point it looked as if St. Lawrence was going to be able to contain Clarkson and end the half with a decisive lead, but the Golden Knights weren’t about to let that happen, as they continued to cash in on Saint turnover opportunities and missed shots, closing what was once an 11-point St. Lawrence lead earlier in the first half to only two at the end, finishing with a three-point shot from Golden Knight Michelle Reddinger to bring the score to 29-27 in favor of the Saints as the buzzer sounded.

Despite turning the ball over 20 times in the first half, Clarkson scored 15 points off only nine Saints’ turnovers to help push them closer to the lead on the scoreboard. The Golden Knights were 50-percent from the field and were able to put pressure on the Scarlet and Brown to only shoot 33-percent in the first 20 minutes of play.

An excited Clarkson squad came onto the court following halftime and tied the game 53 seconds into the period and was able to keep St. Lawrence scoreless for the first 4:52 of the half before senior co-captain Jamie Wolff (Buffalo, NY/Nardin Academy) made a three to get the ball rolling for the Saints, pushing them out ahead of the Golden Knights, 33-29. Clarkson was able to keep it a two-possession game until the home team lit up the court with an 11-0 run that included two lay-ups and a free-throw by Palmer (Bourne, MA/Falmouth Academy), another long shot from Wolff, and a three from sophomore Brittany Parham (Fort Drum, NY/Indian River Central), to give them a 47-33 advantage with 9:39 to go.

It was this impressive offensive effort that energized the Saints to push past their North Country rival, as St. Lawrence went on to seal the victory by only allowing a total of 21 points by their opposition in the last 20 minutes to walk away with a 70-48 win, their eleventh consecutive win and their third conference win.

In addition to Palmer, sophomore Parham posted a career-high 11 points in only 13 minutes on the court, shooting 3-for-4 from three-point range and 4-for-5 from the field. Eight of her points came in the second half.

Wolff also tallied 10 points, two rebounds, three assists, and five steals.

The Saints, now 13-1 overall and 3-0 in the Liberty League, will go on to face conference opponents Rensselaer and Vassar this weekend at home before hitting the road for Liberty League play. Friday’s tip-off is scheduled for 6:00pm, while Saturday’s game is scheduled for 2:00pm.