Despite trailing by as many as 24 points in the third quarter, the St. Lawrence University women's basketball team climbed all the way back into the game before Hannah Van Dyke drilled a game-winning three-point shot from the right corner to lift the Saints to a dramatic 61-59 comeback win at Burkman Gymnasium on Friday.

Van Dyke's hot hand came in handy against Skidmore's zone defense, as she drilled all five of her open looks from beyond the arc – including the game-winning shot that mattered most in crunch time.

The Saints recorded their ninth win of the season with the victory with the victory, moving to 9-4 overall and 4-2 in the Liberty League.

"That's a game that will be remembered; what a great comeback," said Saints head coach Dan Roiger. I must give credit to our players. They had every reason to pack it in, but they just kept fighting until we figured out their zone. Erin told them they were going to get open threes, but we just had to make them. It took about 35 minutes, and then we capitalized at the end."

The contest began as a defensive struggle for the Saints. After Van Dyke opened the scoring with an early triple, Skidmore surged to a 14-6 lead and ended the first quarter up 20-10. St. Lawrence struggled to find its rhythm through the middle frames, scoring just 14 points in the second quarter and enduring a scoring drought for the first five minutes of the third.

Entering the final frame down 16, the Saints' offense finally ignited. The Saints outscored the Thoroughbreds 9-4 to kick off the quarter, then the three-ball started to work. Malley and Annie Perry hit two in quick succession to close the gap to five. Then, Norah Niesz picked up a foul and hit both shots from the line.

The Saints and Skidmore then traded layups before Malley pulled St. Lawrence within one with a three at the 43-second mark, and Van Dyke broke Skidmore's hearts with a second remaining on the clock.



"We attacked the zone and moved with crispness and we battled hard on the boards in the final 20 minutes," Roiger continued. "We saw some great execution on our final play. Annie attacked the paint and found where the help came from and Hannah knocked down a big shot.  Now we have to fight the human nature of having a letdown tomorrow, every game counts as one and we want to go after a weekend sweep."

Malley's final point total in the game was 19 for a team lead. She is currently seven away from 1,000 career points entering the Saints' second game of the weekend on Saturday. Van Dyke registered 17, going 5-5 from the arc. Mason Baker-Schlendering went 5-7 from the floor, picking up 10 points.

The Saints will re-take the court at Burkman Gymnasium Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tipoff against the William Smith Herons to round out the weekend.