SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – _­A fast start propelled the Skidmore College women's basketball team to its biggest blowout of the season, racing past Bard by a 74-48 score in Liberty League action at the Williamson Sports Center Friday evening.
 
Skidmore improves to 5-11 and 4-5 in league contests. Bard drops to 4-9 and 0-8.
 
It was a fast start for the Thoroughbreds, who used their height and rebounding prowess to race out to a 23-10 first quarter lead. The offense got going in the second, as the Thoroughbreds shot 50 percent from the field in the quarter, pulling ahead by as many as 24 points after a 3-pointer by Jessica Centore. Skidmore would go into the lockers with its biggest halftime lead of the season, up by a 41-23 score.
 
It was much of the same after halftime, with Skidmore coming out of the locker room on a 10-0 run, stretching the lead to 28. Bard would claw back through the third and fourth quarters, getting down to 16, but the defense powered the Skidmore offense for much of the fourth, as the lead ballooned back up past 20, with Mary Kate Palleschi putting the finishing touches with a late jumper to pull off the 26-point win.
 
Skidmore got efforts from the entire team, led by Sydney Tsutsui's 18 points, going 6-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Lilly Berg returned to the starting lineup and proved to be a big problem for the Bard bigs, scoring 11 first-quarter points, en route to a career-high 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field, adding nine rebounds and one blocked shot. Haley English added 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Skidmore shot a season-best 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from 3-point range and out-rebounded Bard by a 52-32 margin.
 
Christina Kiser scored 26 points and added nine rebounds to power the Raptors. Katie Esposito added seven points.
 
Skidmore will complete the weekend on Saturday as Ithaca comes to town. The game, previously scheduled at 2 p.m., will begin at 1 p.m.