DUTCHWOMEN'S BENCH PROVIDES THE DIFFERENCE AS UNION DEFEATS ST. LAWRENCE, 68-61

SCHENECTADY , N.Y. - Union showed its depth and bench strength Saturday afternoon as the Dutchwomen's non-starters produced 26 points to help lead the Garnet to a thrilling 68-61 victory over the Saints in Memorial Field House.

The game, which was broadcast via the Internet by d3hoops.com, was a battle of two teams that went into the contest with 8-2 overall records including 2-0 standards in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association.

This is a quality win against a quality team, said Union head coach Mary Ellen Burt. St. Lawrence is a well-coached team with exceptionally talented athletes. Our players hung with one the nation's best and came away with a very important victory.

I think we learned some important lessons when we lost to Rochester earlier this year by a point in the final second, Burt continued. Our players were able to dig deep within themselves this afternoon and it carried them, especially when the bounces did not fall our way.

Melissa Marra's three-point basket with 18:49 left to play produced the Dutchwomen's first double-digit margin of the second half, 42-32. The Saints came within four, 42-38, on Kelly O'Brien's layup with 15:58 left and then closed to their smallest deficit of the second half, 46-43 on Brittany Gaetano's three-pointer at 13:44.

The Dutchwomen improved their margin to 11 points, 57-46 at 8:59, on Kate DeSorrento's three-point basket and led by 12, 63-51, as freshman Krystal Hammond sank two free throws with 5:39 remaining.

Union , which enjoyed a lead of as much as 14 points in the first half and by 12 points in the second 20 minutes, trailed only once, 7-6 with 16:36 showing. St. Lawerence, which trailed 23-9 with 8:30 left in the opening half, went into the locker room down by seven, 37-30.

St. Lawrence's only lead of the first half came at 16:36 when Brittany Gaetano took a feed from Jessica Smith and connected on a three-point basket to give the Saints a 7-6 advantage. Aliza Bogdanich's steal set up the play.

The Dutchwomen then went on a 17-2 run to take what looked like a commanding 23-9 lead as Courtney Shepard knocked down a three with 8:30 left. Junior guard Melissa Marra led the charge with her six points while Shepard, who started the run with a two-point field goal, had five.

A Saints' timeout not only stopped Union's momentum, it began a 21-12 run that began with a layup by Jessica Zuk at 8:05 and ended as Lauren Foran's three-point bomb went through the hoop as the first-half buzzer sounded. When the smoke had cleared, the Saints had cut Union 's margin to seven points, 37-30.

Union 's 26-13 margin off the bench typifies the type of season the 9-2 Dutchwomen (3-0 in the UCAA) are having. DeSorrento and Hammond led the non-starters with eight and six points, respectively.

That stat alone tells the story of this team, said Burt. I can start any number of players on any given day and not have to worry that we won't be able to meet the challenges that are presented during a game. There is no question that we won this game because of our commitment to each other.

Marra led the Dutchwomen with 16 points to go along with her game-high seven assists. Emily Scott added 10 points and three assists to go along with her team-high seven rebounds.

St. Lawrence, 8-3 overall and 2-1 in the circuit, got a dozen points from Gaetano and 11 from Bogdanich. Meredith Pridgen's eight boards were high for the team while Jessica Zuk had six assists, followed by Gaetano, who handed out five.

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