Box Score CANTON, N.Y. - The Skidmore women's basketball team fell to St. Lawrence 58-44 in the Liberty League semifinal, Wednesday night.  Skidmore closes out its season with a mark of 10-12, while St. Lawrence currently sits at 18-8.
     
With the win St. Lawrence moves onto the Championship round, Saturday, Feb. 23 when it hosts fourth-seed William Smith.

The Saints scored the game's first seven points en route to a 16-2 run over the first six minutes of action.  Skidmore would cut the deficit to five before St. Lawrence rattled off seven consecutive points to end the half. The home team controlled the tempo from the opening tip, limiting Skidmore to only 15 shots from the field. At the break, the Thoroughbreds trailed 27-15.

As the second half got underway, Molly McLaughlin sank a key three-pointer for the Thoroughbreds, cutting the deficit to 11 points. McLaughlin's basket ended a lengthy scoring drought for Skidmore, ranging back to the 6:58 mark of the first stanza, which was nearly nine minutes of play. Skidmore was unable to gain much ground in the contest as each team exchanged baskets for several minutes. 

With Skidmore's season ticking away with each passing second, the Thoroughbred offense came to life on the strength of back-to-back treys by Dani DeGregory, resulting in a 10-2 run to pull the visitors within four points with over ten minutes remaining. The Saints looked to stop the bleeding when Allison Cady drained a three-pointer, but DeGregory continued to pour it on, drilling yet another from behind the arc to keep Skidmore within striking distance.

Both teams battled back-and-forth for several minutes until a Kara McDuffee three seemed to swing the momentum back in the Saints favor.  The Saints offense produced a 12-1 run of its own, widening the margin to 15 points.  St. Lawrence would give up a final second three, but in the end it wasn't enough, as the Saints marched on to a 14 point victory, 58-44.  

The Saints' defense disrupted the Thoroughbred offense throughout the game, holding it to 29.8 percent shooting (14-47) from the field, while forcing 21 turnovers.         

DeGregory had 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, including five three-pointers.  Angela Botiba added seven points and six rebounds while McLaughlin and Amber Holgate each had six points. 

Kelly Legg had 17 for St. Lawrence in the win to go along with six boards. St. Lawrence was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, connecting on 13-14 attempts (92.9 percent).