Box ScoreGENEVA, N.Y.St. Lawrence used a 23-8 scoring advantage in the opening minutes of the second half to defeat Union, 65-59, in a semi-final game of the Liberty League's championship tournament at William Smith College.
The Herons earned the event's top seed by winning the regular-season championship.
Union, which finished second in the league with its 41.4 field goal percentage during the 14-game regular season, connected on only 18 of their 64 attempts (28.1%). The Dutchwomen, whose one-year reign as the league title holders came to an end, must now hope that their 17-8 record is good enough to qualify for next week's ECAC tournament. Bids will be announced on Monday.
Senior guard Melissa Marra's three-point field goal with 18:03 left in the game gave the Dutchwomen a 28-27 lead before the Saints scored 14 of the game's next 17 points to take a commanding 45-34 lead with 10:50 remaining. Sophomore guard Brittany Gaetano started the rally with a three-point field goal before Pridgen, who had 10 points in the overall run, hit a layup in front of another Pridgen three-pointer for a 35-28 SLU advantage.
Senior forward Emily Scott momentarily broke the Saints' streak with a layup to bring Union back to within five, but baskets by Gaetano, Pridgen and Gaetano more than offset a senior forward Katlyn Cunningham's hoop as the Saints led 41-32 with 12:36 to play.
Sophomore forward Krystal Hammond connected on a pair of free throws before Gaetano's field goal and two free throws by Andrea Muszynski made it 45-34 in favor of St. Lawrence with 10:50 showing. Marra hit two charity shots with 9:58 left, but Pridgen knocked down a two-point field goal in front a three-pointer by Wolff to give the Saints a 50-36 advantage with 8:54 on the clock.
Union closed to within five three times during the final minute, but St. Lawrence was able to connect on enough of its free throw attempts to thwart any comeback effort by the Garnet.
The Dutchwomen trailed by just two at the half, 25-23, despite shooting just 18.8% (6-of-32) from the field during the first 20 minutes. Union, which played solid defense, forced the Saints into 14 turnovers during the half.
St. Lawrence jumped out to a 10-4 lead as Kelly O'Brien hit two free throws with 14:25 showing. Union then went on an 11-0 run over the next 3:09 to take its biggest lead of the opening 20 minutes, 15-10. Scott started the rally with a layup at 14:10, which was the Dutchwomen's first basket in over five minutes, before junior guard Kate DeSorrento tied the game by scoring a three-point basket and then sank one of two free throws to tie the score at 10-10 with 12:03 remaining.
Sophomore Hammond's free throw helped the Garnet to its first lead of the contest, 11-10, before Hammond scored following an offensive rebound and assist by sophomore forward Tara Pezze. DeSorrento's driving layup with 10:19 left made it 15-10 in Union's favor.
Pridgen snapped the Saints' dry spell with a basket at 9:38 and senior guard Jessica Zuk tied the game with a three-point basket with 7:19 left.
Pezze's one-of-two free throws at 6:33 started the Dutchwomen on a modest 5-2 run that gave them a 21-17 lead with 4:04 showing. DeSorrento hit a tres and Hammond sank both ends of a one-and-one to give Union a 21-17 advantage with 4:04 showing.
St. Lawrence came right back to score the game's next six points with Wolff's three-pointer with 2:35 left giving the Saints a 23-21 edge. Two free throws by Hammond tied the game before O'Brien's field goal with 18 seconds left made it 25-23 in favor of the Saints as Union's three-point bid at the buzzer went off the front of the rim.
Scott and Marra each finished with a dozen points for the Dutchwomen while Hammond had 11. Junior guard Erika Eisenhut handed out five assists while Scott led Union the boards with five rebounds.
St. Lawrence, which won two of the three meetings with the Dutchwomen this year, improved to 15-9. The four of the Saints' starters tallied double digits with Muszynski leading the way with 15 markers. Pridgen and Zuk each contributed 14 points and Wolff ended with 12. Muszynski and Pridgen each finished with seven rebounds while Gaetano and Zuk dished out seven and six assists, respectively.
