Poughkeepsie, N.Y.--The Skidmore College women's basketball team used a second-half surge to hand the Vassar College a 61-54 Liberty League loss Friday night.

The Thoroughbreds improve to 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the Liberty League. The Brewers fall to 3-9 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.

The Brewers stayed in the game all the way up to the final minute, closing the gap to four points with 29 seconds remaining. But in the end, they were unable to overcome a second-half, 11-point deficit.

Guards Kelly Donnelly and Veronica Moceri scored 19 and 12 points for Skidmore, respectively. Donnelly also had nine rebounds and two blocks.
For Vassar, Ariella Rosenthal dropped 19 points and Caitlin Drakeley added 17.

The first half featured three ties and four lead changes, but the Thoroughbreds took a 28-25 lead into intermission after scoring five of the last seven points.

Skidmore shot the ball efficiently in the second half, making half its shots on 11-of-22 shooting and holding Vassar to 22 percent.

Drakeley scored five straight points, a runner and a 3-pointer, to tie it up at 32 with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter. The Thoroughbreds responded by scoring the next five points before the Brewers started chipping away again.

The Thoroughbreds took their largest lead, 53-42, with 6:13 to go and maintained the lead the rest of the way.

Skidmore pressured Vassar on defense and capitalized on extra possessions, scoring 14 points off the Brewers' 14 turnovers. The Thoroughbreds also had help from their reserves, scoring 30 points off the bench.

Next up for Skidmore is a trip to Bard College on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.