The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team won its fifth straight game and improved to 13-7 with their 60-53 win over SUNY Poly in Utica, N.Y. on Tuesday afternoon.

Senior Olivia Middleton hit 7-11 shots, including four from beyond the arc, to finish with 18 points, while grabbing seven rebounds. Cam Roberts had a season high in two stat columns, scoring 13 points and securing nine rebounds. Olivia Barringer had a dozen boards for the third time this season.

The Wildcats scored the final seven points of the opening quarter to lead 16-9. The second quarter mirrored the first, and it was the Saints who closed the half with eight-straight points, capped by 3-pointers from Middleton and Shannon Rhone, to go into the locker rooms tied at 26.

Towards the end of the third quarter, the Scarlet and Brown went on a nine-point run to give the Saints a lead that they would not relinquish. With 27 seconds left in the game, a SUNY Poly 3-pointer made it a three-point game, the first time it was within one possession since the 2:37 mark of the third quarter, but Rhone found Middleton with a full court pass to break their press for an easy layup, and Barringer went 2-2 from the free throw line to secure the game 60-53.

"They were a tough matchup for us and we had a gritty road win tonight," said head coach Dan Roiger. "We were panicky to start the game and allowed them to stay in their defense because we couldn't make  good shots or good passes that would lead to good shots. We switched offenses at halftime and slowed down a bit and played better. Olivia Middleton had another stellar game scoring and added five assists, and Cam hit some big shots, but the player I'm really excited for was Mason. She played great defense on a really good player and battled on the boards and made two key shots. She was huge for us today, we don't win without her contributions."

Molly Burdick and Lyrik Jackson combined for 40 points to lead the hosts. Each played the full 40 minutes, as the Wildcats only played seven.

The Saints grabbed 47 rebounds, ten more than SUNY Poly, but committed three more turnovers. St. Lawrence shot 35.9-percent from the floor to SUNY Poly's 32.8-percent. The Wildcats shot less than 22-percent in the second and third quarters.

The Saints improved to 13-7, while SUNY Poly fell to 12-12.

St. Lawrence returns to Burkman Gymnasium this weekend, playing RPI on February 10^th at 5:30 p.m., and Ithaca the following day at 2 p.m. Prior to Friday's game, the team will honor the two seniors.