SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College women's basketball team starts a crucial week in Liberty League play with a Tuesday contest at the Williamson Sports Center versus Vassar at 6 p.m. The team is coming off two impressive victories this past weekend to extend its six-game winning streak.
The Thoroughbreds, (12-8, 10-3 Liberty League) one of the league's hottest teams, sit all alone in second place in the league standings. Vassar isn't far behind, currently sitting in a three-way tie in third.
Skidmore handled business on Friday night's 73-63 victory against Ithaca, shooting at over 40% from both the field and 3-point line. The veteran leaders carried the load as the starters scored 71 points in the win. Skidmore went into halftime down by 14, but fought back in the second half. With 7:02 to go in the fourth quarter,
Veronica Moceri made a layup to tie the game at 72. From there, Skidmore never looked back controlled the game to its conclusion.
Saturday was a different story in a 75-35 victory against Bard. The Thoroughbreds were in full control the whole game, with every player available seeing action with a healthy 36 bench points. The Thoroughbreds outrebounded Bard 55-28 and scored 40 points in the paint.
Kelly Donnelly continues to shine as the league's leading scorer at 19.9 points per game as well as contributing 2.3 steals per game. Additionally, she continues to lead the team in rebounds with 8.3 and field goal percentage (49%).
Veronica Moceri is second on the team with 10.6 points per game, 4.3 assists per game and 2.8 assists per game.
The Thoroughbreds are now looking to focus on their game Tuesday against Vassar. Vassar is also coming in hot with a three-game winning streak, winners of six of their last seven games. As a team, Vassar sits at third place in the league in points per game with 64.9, while posing a serious threat beyond the arc, leading the league at a .348 clip.
"Over the next five games we will play four of the top six teams in the conference and it starts with Vassar at home who we think is very, very tough," said head coach
Darren Bennett. "Because so many teams are really strong, win-loss records are the conversation; the details can often be overlooked from one team to the next. [Vassar] are without question one of the most talented teams in the conference and they are playing with a lot of confidence. We are looking forward to a great game and are thankful that we will be playing this one at home where our team has really gelled and is playing very strong team basketball."
The Brewers get a lot of their production from Sophie Nick, averaging 12.7 points per game, snagging an average of 6.7 rebounds and showing a 53.8 shooting percentage from the 3-point line. Ariella Rosenthal sits at similar numbers with 11.6 points per game, 44 percent from the field, averaging 6.9 rebounds per game.
These two teams last met at Vassar a month ago, with the Brewers winning by a 63-46 score. The home team has won the last four games of the all-time series.
"If you miss any details with Vassar they are going to expose you," said Bennett. "They can defend, rebound, and pass; they have a great inside out game and have a number of solid floor leaders. They are a very talented group and a team that is playing very well. In our first game they had us on our heels from the beginning and we had a hard time gaining any traction. They have a good spread offense with a lot of shooters and dribble drive players, their inside game is strong and complemented by a forward that can stretch the floor beyond the 3-point line so your game plan has to be multi-layered covering a lot of aspects."
