GENEVA, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team overcame a slow start to finish the regular season with a fourth straight victory, defeating William Smith College by a 60-55 score in a Liberty League matchup on Saturday afternoon at Bristol Gym.
 
With the win, Union (11-14, 10-8, Liberty League) finishes the regular season in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with St. Lawrence University. The Saints own the tiebreaker over the Garnet Chargers, and so Union will head to Canton to face SLU in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday.
 
Sophomore Grace Ardito led three Union players in double figures with 16 points, hitting 6-of-10 shots from the field and 4-of-6 from long range. Senior Kennedy Clark added 12 points, six boards and three steals, while junior Jenna Forman chipped in 10 points and five caroms. Brooke Jarvis paced all players with 17 points and 20 rebounds for William Smith (7-18, 7-11 Liberty League).
 
The game did not begin well for the visitors, as William Smith jumped out to a 14-3 lead less than five minutes into the contest.  After Clark opened the scoring with a free throw, the Herons scored 10 straight points thanks in part to five Union turnovers and kept the momentum after that. The visitors shot 2-of-12 from the field in the opening 10 minutes as WSC took a 17-7 lead into the second stanza.
 
William Smith scored the first five points of the second period to take its largest lead of the game at 22-7, but back-to-back threes from Ardito and Forman stemmed the tide. The duo continued to take control for Union after that, combining to score 12 more points as part of a 12-3 run that got Union back within two before a Clark layup knotted the score at 27 at the half. Union hit 8-of-16 shots from the field in the period and held William Smith to 25.0 percent (4 of 16) shooting in the second stanza.
 
Layups from sophomore Jelena Perovic and junior Emma Riley early in the third quarter gave the visitors their first lead since the opening minute at 31-29, and Union took the lead back for good later in the frame on a bucket from senior Grace Enselek that made the score 35-33 with 6:09 left. A pair of Ardito triples bumped the Union lead up to eight, but the Herons closed with six straight points to make it a one-possession game headed to the fourth.
 
Union closed the door with an 11-2 run to start the final frame, with Clark leading the way with six points to put Union up 54-43 with 4:33 on the clock. The Garnet Chargers did not need to make a field goal the rest of the way, with six free throws all that were needed to secure the victory.
 
After a tough start to the game, Union shot 48.4 percent (15 of 31) over the middle two frames to get back in the game and finished the day shooting 37.0 percent (20 of 54) from the field. William Smith ended the afternoon at 29.7 percent (19 of 64) from the field.
 
Check UnionAthletics.com early next week for a full postseason preview as the Garnet Chargers head to Canton for the first round of the Liberty League Tournament.