Vassar used a strong first half performance to build an 18-point lead headed into the break, and this proved to be enough to stay undefeated as they earned an 81-59 victory over the St. Lawrence University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Burkman Gymnasium.

With the loss, St. Lawrence drops to 8-10 on the season overall, while they stay above .500 at the conference level with a record of 7-5. Vassar is undefeated in conference play at 12-0, and has won 17 straight games overall.

"Vassar played great today; we had no answer on either end of the floor," said Dan Roiger, Saints head coach. "We played very nervous and tentative and when you do that, it usually goes south. We improved a bit in the second half on offense but still could not get any stops."

"Our defense has been poor most of the season and when you play against a skilled offensive team you need them to play poorly, but they didn't, they played great and took it to us.  We come back next week and play two teams we are battling in the playoffs and get to work on Monday to get ready for them.  It's a young squad, they are fun to coach, and we take this lesson and use it to get better."

The Brewers would outscore the Saints in each quarter en route to their 18th win of the season. After the weekend Vassar remains at the top of the Liberty League standings, undefeated in the league, while St. Lawrence drops to 8-9, 7-4 in league play.

The Saints struggled to build momentum in the first half, finding themselves down eight after one quarter and were outscored by ten in the second quarter as Vassar took a double-digit lead going into halftime.

The second half was kept much closer as St. Lawrence was able to trim the lead down to 11 three minutes into the second half after a Cam Roberts jumper, but the visitors were able to answer every intention of a comeback attempt to retain a double-digit lead down the stretch.



Eizabeth Flynn led the way in production for the Saints posting another double-double with 14 points and an impressive 16 rebounds, 10 of those coming on the defensive end. Jakie Malley contributed 16 points to the Saints cause, shooting 4-6 from behind the arc while Norah Niesz added 11 points of her own.

St. Lawrence used strong rebounding to outscore Vassar 19-13 in second-chance points while a tough Brewer defense was able to force 19 turnovers on the defensive end.

The Saints return to action as they travel to RIT on Friday, Feb. 2 for a league matchup against the Tigers scheduled for 5:30 p.m.