Jackie Malley scored a season-high 26 points, including 15 in the third quarter, but the St. Lawrence women's basketball team fell 68-60 to RIT Saturday afternoon in Rochester, N.Y. after a strong fourth quarter from the Tigers.
The Saints fall to 10-6 with the defeat and an even 5-5 in league play.
"We played an outstanding game today, but made a few too many defensive mistakes," said Saints head coach
Dan Roiger. "Jackie had a great shooting game, but we weren't able to back her up and shot our season average. I really like our progress the last few weeks. Each week, we respond to what happened the previous and get better. The goal is to peak at the end of the season and sometimes it takes a loss to show how important little details are."
Malley and the Saints opened the game with a three pointer, but the Tigers proceeded to score nine straight points after this. The Saints used the middle part of the quarter to claw their way back, eventually tying it at 13 after another Malley three-pointer. Then,
Elizabeth Flynn got one to go beyond the arc with 1:40 left to give the Scarlet and Brown a 16-15 lead. RIT got some buckets late and went out in front 23-17 after a high-scoring first quarter.
The Saints trailed 31-25 midway through the second quarter, but then went on an 8-0 run to take the lead 33-31, highlighted by threes from
Annie Perry and Hannah VanDyke. The Saints went into halftime up 36-35 with Flynn scoring 10 and Malley with eight points.
In the third quarter,
Jackie Malley shined with five three pointers, allowing the Saints to have as much as a nine point lead. The Tigers ended the quarter scoring the final five and the Saints headed into the final ten minutes up 55-53. RIT scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, earning a 57-55 lead with eight minutes left. After
Norah Niesz tied it with a layup, RIT went on a 7-0 run holding St. Lawrence scoreless for over six minutes.
The Saints finally got three free throws from Malley to get the game within four, 64-60, with 1:53 left. Despite this, the Tigers continued to lock down on defense and made foul shots on the other end to win 68-60.
Flynn was in double figures with 12 points, and led the Saints with 10 rebounds and four steals.
Mason Baker-Schlendering contributed seven points and eight assists.
The Saints will next have a non-conference home game against the Middlebury Panthers Tuesday, January 28. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. in Burkman.
