CANTON, N.Y. – The Skidmore College women's basketball team overcame a defensive battle with St. Lawrence in the regular season finale, clinching its second straight regular season title after a 42-31 victory at the Ronald T. Burkman Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. The Thoroughbreds are the one seed in the upcoming Liberty League Tournament and will host the semifinals on Saturday and final on Sunday.
Skidmore (16-9, 14-4 Liberty League) has won 10 of its last 11 games to win the regular season title. They will host the St. Lawrence/Vassar winner on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Saints (17-8, 12-6 Liberty League) are the fifth seed and will host Vassar on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
Despite shooting just 27.8 percent from the field in the contest, the Thoroughbreds held the Saints to a season-low 31 points, locking up on the defensive end to force St. Lawrence into a 21.3 percent shooting performance from the field.
Kelly Donnelly closed the season with another strong performance, finishing with 18 points and a season-best 14 rebounds.
Veronica Moceri tallied 13 points, adding four rebounds and a steal.
Annabella Pugliese led the Saints with nine points and nine rebounds.
"We are very happy for our team," said head coach
Darren Bennett. "Winning on the road against a very good team is a challenge and a test and today we stepped up to the challenge and were able to pass the test. Our kids were sturdy through a very tough offensive outing and stood strong against a juggernaut of an offensive team. Today was more like a high scoring football game than a low scoring basketball game. Neither team really caught any offensive flow and both teams missed a lot of makable shots. The defenses were sturdy I guess on both ends."
The Thoroughbreds got off to a nice start in front of a senior day crowd in Canton, beginning the contest with a 7-2 run. After St. Lawrence closed the gap, Moceri hit a 3-pointer to bring the lead to four, at 12-8. The Saints would score the last five points of the quarter to take the 13-12 lead.
Both offenses would grind to a halt in the second period, with both teams combining for 11 points. Skidmore would tally a season-low three points as St. Lawrence entered the half with a 21-15 lead.
Skidmore would rally back in the second half, going on a 7-0 run to take a 22-21 lead. The lead would seesaw back and forth between the two teams, before a layup by Moceri and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by
Ari Fustini gave the Thoroughbreds a six-point lead of their own at 31-25. Skidmore would hold St. Lawrence to just two made baskets in the fourth, keeping the Saints off the board for the final 7:55 of the contest, as it pulled its lead to double-digits.
"We have to really improve dramatically in the rebounding end of the floor and on the line but our entire game flow is in a good place right now," added Bennett. "We will enjoy this win through the weekend and start focusing on the playoffs on Monday."
