St. Lawrence University Athletics

Jan. 17: The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team earned redemption for a loss two weeks ago to Rensselaer, as the Saints sprinted out to a big 17-point lead and never looked back in a 65-45 conference win against the Engineers in Canton, NY on Saturday.

St. Lawrence improves to 10-4 (5-1) with the win, as they held Rensselaer (9-7, 5-2) to 25% shooting in the game (14-of-56).  Caroline Dalton led the Scarlet and Brown with 17 points, while Kara McDuffee overcame two early fouls to still record a double-double (13 pts, 10 reb).  The St. Lawrence bench was also key in the game, as it outscored RPI's by a 20-9 margin.  Shayna Davner had eight points, Cara Waterson added five and Ellie Gonyeau gave the team key rebounds and defense in the post.

"We moved the ball very well against their matchup zone which had given us problems the first time we faced them.  This time we had a plan and the players executed it to near perfection," said St. Lawrence head coach Dan Roiger.  "Our clock management and offensive efficiency the last six minutes was outstanding.  I saw some maturity from our team this weekend and that was great to see.  Our challenge is to keep moving forward and improving every game."

Rensselaer's Amanda Lynch led all players with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but her team's 6-for-32 shooting performance in the first half put them in a big deficit early.  St. Lawrence, which had only four turnovers in the game to their opponent's 16, used an 8-0 run and held RPI scoreless for over 5:00 minutes to build a 27-9 cushion in the first half. 

Though the Engineers would get back to within 13 at halftime, St. Lawrence would put the game away with solid play in the second half.  Dalton hit key jumpers throughout the period, as the Saints stretched the advantage up to 22 behind a triple from rookie Jenny Scudder with 9:09 left.  Rensselaer would not get within single-digits for the remainder of the game, as St. Lawrence rebounded and defended well down the stretch.

"I know that I've never coached a team that had only four turnovers in a game," added Coach Roiger.  "Lauren is doing such a great job of running us, but that is just a great job by all members of the team in being efficient and treating each possession like it is important."

St. Lawrence will hit the road next weekend for conference games at Vassar and Bard on January 23 and 24, while Rensselaer will host William Smith on Friday then travel to Union on Saturday.