SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team will be appearing in the Liberty League Tournament for the third time in the last four years, as sixth-seeded Union travels to third-seeded Vassar College for the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Vassar's Athletics and Fitness Center.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: For those who can't make it to Poughkeepsie for the game, Vassar will offer live stats and live video. Fans can also follow Union Athletics on Twitter and Instagram for coverage before, during and after the game.
 
AGAINST THE BREWERS: Vassar swept the regular-season series between the two teams, winning both games by just six points. Union took Vassar to overtime in December before coming up short in a 60-54 (OT) defeat, and then lost by the same margin in a 44-38 loss in Schenectady in early January. Union boasts a 36-28 record all-time against Vassar, including a 24-20 record since the Brewers joined the Liberty League in 2000-01; however, Vassar has won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two squads.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its third conference tournament appearance in the last four seasons, following up on a 2021-22 season that saw Union beat RIT in the first round before falling to eventual titlist Ithaca College in the semifinals. The win over RIT snapped a seven-game Liberty League Tournament losing streak. The team is 2-11 since capturing the program's only title in the final year of the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (now Liberty League) in 2004, and is 5-15 all-time in conference tournament games. 

SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S A CHANCE: While sixth seeds historically have not succeeded in Liberty League Tournaments, the women's basketball team doesn't have to look far to find a reason for inspiration: the Union women's volleyball team became just the fourth sixth seed in any sport to advance in a Liberty League Tournament and just the second to win a game outright against a third seed, defeating third-seeded William Smith College in the first round of the postseason back in November.
 
DON'T LET 'EM GET HOT: Union enters the postseason winners of four of its last five games, the team's best five-game stretch of the season. The team has scored 60 or more points in all four of the victories, after previously reaching the 60-point mark four times in the season's first 19 contests. The team is 7-1 this year when scoring at least 60 points in a game, including seven straight wins.
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Union ranks third in the Liberty League by allowing only 53.7 points per game, while also ranking third in opponent field goal percentage (33.9 percent) and first in opponent three-point field goal percentage (24.9 percent). During the two regular season meetings, Union limited Vassar to combined 30 percent shooting (34-of-113) from the field, including a 3-of-21 effort from long range in game two.
 
PACH ATTACK: Union's recent run of success has coincided with the return to form of senior Olivia Pachla, who has scored in double figures in each of the last five contests. The forward is averaging 12.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game since February 4.
 
CLARK THE SHARK: Junior Kennedy Clark leads the Liberty League with 49 steals in 24 games, averaging 2.0 swipes per outing. She has at least one steal in 20-of-24 games this year, including a season-high five in both games against Skidmore College earlier this season.
 
LEAN ON LEE: Senior Megan Lee leads the team and ranks seventh in the Liberty League by averaging 7.5 rebounds per game this season. Her 72 offensive boards are fourth-best in the conference so far in 2022-23.
 
ABOUT THE BREWERS: Vassar enters the postseason with wins in 10 of its last 11 games, including a 75-71 victory over conference frontrunner Ithaca College on Saturday. The team boasts the second-highest scoring offense in the conference, averaging 66.2 points per game, and has scored a league-best 69.2 ppg in 18 conference matchups this year. Alex Lee leads the team and ranks ninth in the conference by averaging 10.7 points per game, followed by Julia Harvey at 10.0 ppg. Eliza Srinivasan leads the Liberty League in assists by averaging over five per contest and also ranks second in the conference in steals (43).

WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to the Liberty League Tournament semifinals on Friday, where they will head to Saratoga Springs to face off with second-seeded Skidmore College.
 
The complete postseason schedule is below:
Tuesday, February 21, 2023 – First Round

#5 St. Lawrence at #4 RPI – 5:30 p.m
#6 Union at #3 Vassar – 7:00 p.m.
 
Friday, February 24, 2023 – Semifinals
#3 Vassar/#6 Union at #2 Skidmore
#4 RPI/#5 St. Lawrence at #1 Ithaca
 
Sunday, February 26, 2023 – Finals
Semifinal Winners at Highest Remaining Seed