CANTON, N.Y.—The Skidmore College women's basketball team locked up the second seed in the Liberty League tournament with a 64-61 win over St. Lawrence, Friday night at Burkman Gym.

The Thoroughbreds improve to 15-9 overall and 11-4 in Liberty League play, while the Saints go to 19-6 overall and 13-3 in conference play. The win clinches a home playoff game on Wednesday, Feb. 25 against a team to be determined.

Skidmore closes out the regular season at home Sunday at 2 p.m. vs, Clarkson.

Angela Botiba tallied a game-high 19 points to go along with eight rebounds, Molly McLaughlin produced 11 points, four assists and four rebounds and Kelly Donnelly chipped in with eight points and 13 boards off the bench.

"Tonight our kids were committed to being road tough for 40 minutes," said Skidmore head coach Darren Bennett. "It was a tough matchup for us on the road. There was pressure for the home team to win on senior night and we came up big.

 St. Lawrence, which shot just 34% from the floor and 7-of-28 from behind the arc, was led by Jenny Scudder's 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting. 

The Saints held a 33-30 lead at intermission in part because of five three pointers and eight Skidmore turnovers.  Lauren Quattrochi stretched the St. Lawrence lead to eight, knocking down a 3-pointer with two minutes to go, but Skidmore battled back, finishing the half on a 5-0 run to take the momentum into the locker room.

St. Lawrence appeared ready to cruise early in the second half, as Kara McDuffee's lay-up 5:40 into the period gave the Saints an 11-point advantage.  However, Skidmore remained poised, delivering a 15-0 run to go ahead 53-47 with 7:02 to play.  The teams continued to go back-and-forth, with Quattrocchi hitting a triple that gave the home team the lead back, 59-58, with 3:05 remaining.

Skidmore, which had found success throughout the night by getting the ball to the low block for Botiba, went back to their star senior and she came up with back-to-back lay-ups to give the visitors a 62-59 lead with 1:19 left.  After the teams exchanged baskets, the Saints final chance to tie came from Scudder, who couldn't convert from behind the arc allowing the Thoroughbreds to celebrate the win and the No. 2 seed.

"Our bigs played extremely well and dominated the game for easy inside points," Bennett added "Over time that opened the perimeter up and we were able to hit some timely threes when we really needed them. We did not execute everything the way we wanted to, but sometimes you get a little lucky and if your mental fortitude allows you to stay in the game long enough good things can happen.

"We had contributions across the board in particular from senior Allie Keller who started and gave us great senior leadership and balance on defense. I am excited for our entire team, our seniors in particular and look forward to celebrating Senior day with them on Sunday."