Jenny Scudder scored a team-best 12 points including a key 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter and Sarah Thomas added nine points for the St. Lawrence University Women's Basketball team but Skidmore rallied in the final quarter to post a 53-51 victory over the Saints Sunday afternoon in the regular-season finale in Saratoga Springs.
Despite the loss, St. Lawrence (16-9 overall, 9-7 Liberty League) secured the #4 seed for the upcoming Liberty League Tournament and will face top-seeded Clarkson Wednesday night in one of the tournament semifinal matchups. Union will travel to RIT to face the Tigers in the other semifinal and the winners will play Saturday at the site of the top remaining seed.
After a close first quarter as Skidmore (14-11, 8-8) jumped out to an early 13-10 advantage, the Saints suffered a poor shooting second quarter and managed just six points as the Thoroughbreds took a 10-point lead at 26-16 into the halftime intermission.
In the third quarter, the Saints rallied back led by Kaelyn Kohlasch and Caroline Dalton in the early part of the quarter and Scudder at the end of the period as she had a layup and the 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Saints a 38-36 advantage. The Saints scored 22 points in the third quarter and regained the momentum heading into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, Ellie Gonyeau hit a fast break layup to tie the score at 40-40 before Skidmore went on a 7-2 run to take a five-point lead at 47-42 with five minutes left to play.
The Saints trimmed the lead to two points with a Scudder 3-pointer but the Thoroughbreds responded with a jumper before Scudder trimmed the lead again with a pair of free throws making it a 49-47 game with just less than four minutes to play.
The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes before a Skidmore free throw made it a three-point game with less than a minute to play.
With time running out, Lauren Quattrocchi was fouled and connected on both free throws to trim the lead to a single point with three seconds remaining. The Saints committed a foul to stop the clock but a miss on the second attempt allowed the clock to start and the game ended with Skidmore clinging to the two-point lead.
Scudder was the lone Saint to score in double figures with her 12 points while Thomas added none points for the Saints. Dalton and Shayna Davner each scored six points and Dalton grabbed a team-leading 10 rebounds.
