ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – Ten different players scored at least one basket as the Union College women's basketball team headed into 2025 on a high note with a 63-29 victory over Bard College in Liberty League action on Thursday night at the Stevenson Athletic Center.
Junior
Jelena Perovic recorded her first double-double of the season with game highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds to go with three blocks and two assists in a well-rounded effort. Senior
Sophia Poplyk netted a career-high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from long range, and first-year
Olivia Cunningham chipped in seven points, seven boards and two blocks for Union (5-5, 2-1 Liberty League).
Bard (2-7, 0-3 Liberty League) was paced by Erin Tobes with nine points and six rebounds as well as Lexi Miller with six points and a team-high 10 caroms.
Union left little doubt about the outcome of the game from the opening tip, scoring the game's first 12 points as part of a 17-2 opening period. The Garnet Chargers hit their first five shots of the game to take control early, with Perovic scoring the game's first eight points and senior
Emma Riley following with a three 2:34 into the contest. Bard got on the scoreboard after 7:04 of scoreless action on the team's 12th shot of the game, but Union followed up with a layup from sophomore
Davita Honig and a Cunningham triple to take a 15-point edge after 10 minutes.
The visitors extended their lead slightly in the second stanza by outscoring the home team, 13-11. Five players scored the team's six baskets in the period, led by junior
Grace Ardito with four points and Poplyk with three.
Union extended the lead to 25 with the first eight points of the third period, as senior
Jenna Forman led off with a layup before Poplyk followed with back-to-back three-pointers. After six straight Bard points brought the lead back below 20, baskets from Cunningham and sophomore
Morgan Schultz helped the visitors take a 42-22 edge into the final frame.
The Garnet Chargers tripled up the Raptors by a 21-7 margin in the fourth period to finish off the win. An Ardito layup with 4:03 on the clock gave Union its first 30-point lead of the game at 57-27 and closed with six of the final points, earning its largest lead of the night thanks to senior
Claudia Porto's bucket that accounted for the final score.
Union finished the game shooting 42.2 percent (27 of 64) from the floor while holding an opponent under 20 percent shooting for the third time in the last five outings, with Bard finishing at 18.8 percent (12 of 64) from the floor and 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) from long range.
Union will take some time off before returning to action on January 7, 2025, when the Garnet Chargers host the same Bard College squad in another Liberty League matchup beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Viniar Athletic Center.
