Mason Baker-Schlendering led the No. 4 seeded St. Lawrence University women's basketball team with 15 points but they fell 79-68 to top-seeded Union in the semifinal of the Liberty League tournament on Friday evening in Schenectady, N.Y.

The loss ends the Saints season with an overall record of 17-10 – their highest win total since 2021-22.

The teams traded points early before Union took its first substantial lead of the game late in the first, when a Grace Ceseretti three-pointer put them up 17-8. But Hannah Van Dyke quickly shrunk the lead back down to six on the Saints' next possession.

Following that, with the score at 32-12 Garnet Chargers, the teams spent the last three minutes of the quarter trading three-balls – with Jackie Malley nailing two of them for St. Lawence, cutting the lead back down to six. Ryley Tate-Padian responded by going back-to-back from beyond the arc, and rode a 72.2 field goal percentage into the quarter break up 32-23.

Norah Niesz and Izzy Caron continued to rain down the threes, coming out with the first two field goals of the second quarter for either team. That trimmed the lead down to 32-29 with seven minutes to play in the contest. Union, however, would outscore the Saints 11-2 over the following five minutes and built up a healthy lead into halftime at 48-37.

The third quarter saw similar offense for both teams, with the Saints being outscored 21-20 in the quarter. Their offense remained spread out over the course of the third, with Stevie Bannon downing five points off the bench, and Baker-Schlendering posting a team-high six in the frame.

Union had the lead as high as 19 in the third before the Saints engineered some offense late. The Garnet Chargers clung to a 12-point lead at 69-57 after three quarters, 10 minutes away from the Liberty League championship game.

St. Lawrence used an early run to outscore the Union 9-2 in the first half of the final quarter, clawing their way back into the contest down 71-66 with 4:36 to go. Tate-Padian and Morgan Schultz each sunk foul shots to end that St. Lawrence run, then Grace Ardito drilled a three-pointer to make it a nine-point game with 2:50 to go. That would be the final margin of victory for Union.

Baker-Schlendering was joined by Elizabeth Flynn in double figures, and the junior from Brentwood, Tenn. also added a team-high 12 boards for a double-double. Baker-Schlendering was a red-hot 6-9 on field goal attempts and also had two steals, a Saints' best mark. Van Dyke went a team-best 2-5 from the arc and Bannon had a 4-6 night at the charity stripe.