SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It was a balanced effort for the Skidmore College women's basketball team, who saw all available players contribute to its sixth straight victory, a 75-35 decision against Bard in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon at the Williamson Sports Center.
The Thoroughbreds (11-8, 9-3 Liberty League) now sit all alone in second place in the league standings, remaining a game behind of first-place RIT. Bard falls to 0-19 overall and 0-13 in league action.
The Thoroughbreds struck early and often against the Raptors, with a 26-4 advantage in the first quarter, the best such performance in a quarter all season. The Thoroughbreds shot a scorching 51.2 percent in the first half, and saw a balanced team performance all game. All 11 players recorded at least a point and rebound, and played double-digit minutes.
Kelly Donnelly led the group with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds. Caroline Mergueruan added a career-high 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field coming off the bench, adding two steals.
Ari Fustini added nine points and four assists, while
Taylor Ong tallied nine points and seven rebounds.
Veronica Moceri and
Kayla Mitchell added six points each. Skidmore out rebounded Bard by an impressive 55-38 margin and the bench unit chipped in an impressive 36 points.
Katie Esposito and Sarah Morris led Bard with nine points apiece.
"Today was a complete team effort in every way," said head coach
Darren Bennett. "It was really good to see the players that work so hard in practice get some legit court time and even better to see them perform well. We talk a lot about performing at our level regardless of the opponent or the situation and we did that today. It can be hard for players their haven't played much to come into a game and not want to get theirs or try to play to impress the coaches. It says a lot to me about what our players take away by how they let the game come to them, about how hard they played no matter who was in and how excited they were for each other. It was a good win today, especially for those reasons."
The Thoroughbreds continue their home stand on Tuesday when Vassar comes to town for a 6 p.m. start.
