Junior Caelan McHarney led the St. Lawrence University women's basketball team with a career-high 20 points as they took on Ithaca in conference play Friday night in Canton, N.Y.

Despite the strong effort, the Saints fell to the Bombers after a big run in the fourth quarter which gave them the 77-65 win.

In the first quarter the game was tight, no team was able to gain a significant lead. Ithaca led 18-12. Yet after back-to-back threes from juniors Hannah Van Dyke and McHarney, they tied the game back up. Ithaca once again poured it on, gaining a six-point lead after hitting a jumper before the quarter ended to make it 26-20.

In the second, the Saints were right behind the Bombers, with Ithaca holding a slight lead for most of the quarter until there was 2:32 left in the quarter. At that point, sophomore Annie Perry knocked down a jumper to put the Saints up one. Ithaca knocked down two free throws right after, and junior Margaret Dougher matched it with two free throws of her own. The remainder of the quarter was scoreless and the Saints led 36-35 at the half.

The Saints held the slight edge in the third quarter, holding the lead almost the whole quarter. Ithaca was always right on their tail, never trailing more than five throughout the entire quarter.
Both teams were trading buckets, the Saints were able to grab a four-point lead before the end of the quarter after fifth-year Nicole Jeffrey put in a lay-up to make it a 54-50 game going into the final quarter. At this point, McHarney had already downed her previous career high of 16 points.

The fourth started off with Ithaca going on a 18-3 run, giving Ithaca the 68-57 lead with 5:07 left to go in the game. McHarney hit a three right out of the timeout to end the run and put the Saints within eight. That would be as close as the Saints would get however, as Ithaca was able to pull away and grab the 77-65 win over the Saints.



McHarney lead the team in points with 20 as well as six rebounds. Van Dyke and sophomore Elizabeth Flynn each put seven points and seven rebounds each. Anya Watkins led the way for Ithaca with 21 points.

Ithaca shot better from field with 45.7 per cent compared to the Saints' 28.4 per cent, while the Saints shot better from three shooting 26.3 per cent compared to the Bombers' 23.8%. The Saints outrebounded Ithaca 39-32, while Ithaca held the edge in assists (23-13) and blocks (9-0).

The Saints will look to bounce back Saturday afternoon as they take on Union College at home for their senior day.