SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.—Four players scored in double figures as the Skidmore College women's basketball team rolled to a 73-56 non-conference win against Hartwick, Tuesday night at the Williamson Sports Center. The Thoroughbreds improve to 2-1, while the Hawks go to 0-2.
 
Kelly Donnelly posted her second double-double of the season, scoring 19 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Kayla Mitchell had a career-high 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, Veronica Moceri added 10 points, going 3-for-4 from beyond-the-arc, and Amber Holgate had 10 points and four rebounds.
 
Taylor Vonasek led Hartwick, scoring a game-high 21 points and adding seven rebounds and three steals. Christina Gradziadei had 11 points off the bench and Caitlin Corbett had seven points and three rebounds.
 
Skidmore took control early, jumping out to a 25-10 lead in the first quarter on 10-of-16 (62.5%) shooting. Skidmore's hot shooting continued in the second quarter, as the Thoroughbreds extended their lead to 18 before the half. Skidmore finished 15-of-29 (51.7%) from the field in the first half, including 6-of-11 (54.5%) from three.
 
The Hawks battled back in the third quarter, using a 9-2 run to come back within 10 at 41-31. Donnelly ended the run, hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to push the Thoroughbreds lead to 14. After Vonasek hit a jumper, Holgate and Mitchell knocked down 3-pointers on back-to-back Skidmore possessions, sparking an 8-2 run. Mitchell added another three before the end of the period and Donnelly converted on a pair of free throws to give the Thoroughbreds a 59-41 lead heading into the fourth.
 
Skidmore pulled away in the fourth quarter, starting the stanza with an 8-3 run to open a 23-point lead with 6:08 to play. The Hawks could not get any closer than 13 over the final six minutes of play, as the Thoroughbreds held on for the 73-56 win.
 
Skidmore was 25-for-56 from the field (44.6%), including 11-for-25 (44.0%) from 3-point range, while Hartwick was 21-for-56 (37.5%) from the floor. The Thoroughbreds also owned a 43-19 edge in bench points.

"Tonight we got a little bit better," said Skidmore head coach Darren Bennet. "We did a much better job of keeping them off the free throw line than we have been. We were able to get very strong bench production which is going to help us down the road. I think our press got to them down the stretch, but there are still a lot of things we have to clean up there because we definitely allowed too many easy baskets off of pressing.
 
"We played 12 players double-digit minutes and stayed fresh, and that is something that we aim to do and something that will definitely benefit us over the course of a long season.
 
"Our on-ball defense has to get tough and our help defense and recover must be cleaned up, but overall I think we did a good job tonight in most aspects of the game.
 
"We have some work to do to get ready for this weekends games.  These will be big tests as we continue with a conference-like week with Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday games."
 
Skidmore goes on the road this weekend for a pair of non-conference contests. The Thoroughbreds travel to Pine Manor Friday, Nov. 20, before facing Emmanuel Saturday, Nov. 21.