SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - The Union College women's basketball team dropped a 61-52 Liberty League matchup to local rival Skidmore College on Saturday afternoon at Viniar Athletic Center.

First-year Jelena Perovic led all players with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting for Union (6-12, 4-8 Liberty League), and junior Grace Enselek added 12 points thanks to an 8-of-10 effort from the charity stripe and three blocks.

Sarah Chambers posted a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds to pace Skidmore (14-4, 10-1 Liberty League), who also received 11 points each from Kate McCarney and Andi Levitz.

Union was nothing if not consistent in the first 20 minutes of play, shooting 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) from the field in both the first and second periods. The difference in the team's scoring output came from the charity stripe, where the home team hit 7-of-8 attempts in the opening frame but only went 1-for-2 in the second stanza.

Union's first five points of the game came from the free-throw line, as the team put Skidmore in the bonus by the 5:32 mark of the first quarter. The game was tied at 13 in the final minute before Union ran off the final five points, getting a three from junior Maura Conan and a pair of free throws by Enselek to take a 18-13 lead into the second.

Senior Kendall Degenhardt scored on the period's opening possession to build up the largest lead of the half for either side at 20-13, but the Thoroughbreds came back with seven straight points to knot the score at 20 just 2:04 into the period. A 9-2 run put Skidmore up 31-26 with under 90 seconds remaining and the visitors went into the half with a 33-29 advantage. After shooting 5-of-17 in the first period, Skidmore hit 7-of-14 attempts in the second frame.

The home team shot well in the third quarter, hitting 6-of-12 shots from the field, but four of Skidmore's seven field goals came from beyond the arc as the visitors extended their lead to 51-42 after 30 minutes.

The Union defense kept Skidmore off the scoreboard for over three minutes to start the final frame, with a Perovic layup bringing Union back within seven at 51-44. But the home team was unable to string together back-to-back baskets down the stretch, as the team could not dig into the deficit the rest of the way.

Union did a good job defensively against the Thoroughbreds, holding Skidmore to 33.3 percent (21 of 63) shooting, but Skidmore had a 20-8 edge on the offensive glass and also converted 17 Union turnovers into 15 points. Union finished the game shooting 38.8 percent (19 of 49) from the field.

After spending the last three weeks at home, Union will venture back onto the road next weekend for another conference weekend, beginning on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. matchup at Ithaca College.