SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team has made the postseason for the third straight year and the fifth-seeded Garnet Chargers will make the trip north to fourth-seeded St. Lawrence University for the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Union enters the postseason with a 11-14 (10-8 Liberty League) record and finished in a tie with St. Lawrence (12-13, 10-8 Liberty League) for fourth place, with the Saints earning the tiebreaker thanks to sweeping sixth-seeded Rochester Institute of Technology in the regular season. RIT travels to third-seeded Ithaca College in the other first round matchup, while top-seeded Vassar College and second-seeded Skidmore College received byes into the semifinal round.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is making its third straight conference tournament appearance under third-year head coach
Katie Marcella. The team is 2-12 in the postseason since capturing the program's only title in the final year of the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (now Liberty League) in 2004, and is 5-16 all-time in conference tournament games.
ALL-TIME VS. ST. LAWRENCE: Tuesday's game will be the 65th all-time meeting on the hardwood between Union and St. Lawrence since 1993, with the Saints boasting a 47-17 edge over the first 64. The teams have met six times in conference tournament play and SLU is undefeated in those matchups, winning four times in the semifinals and twice in the championship game. This season both squads held serve on their home court, with Union's 61-56 victory on February 10 a big step in the team's push for the postseason over the last two weeks.
SOPHOMORE SURGE: Sophomore
Jelena Perovic is averaging a team-best 12.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game so far this season and is one of four players to rank in the top-eight of the Liberty League in both categories. The forward also leads the conference by shooting 48.5 percent (116 of 239) from the field so far this season.
'DITO FROM DOWNTOWN: Sophomore
Grace Ardito is 11-of-24 from three-point land over the last six contests and is shooting 45.8 percent from long range this season, hitting 22 of her 48 three-point attempts to tie for the team lead in threes with senior
Kennedy Clark.
BLOCK PARTY: Junior
Jenna Forman ranks second in the Liberty League with 41 blocks this season, a mark that ranks eighth on Union's single-season list. The forward also sits third on the team by averaging 6.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game so far in 2023-24.
DRIVE FOR 35: Union ranks third in the Liberty League by holding opponents to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, so it makes sense that when the Garnet Chargers shoot the ball well, they have a good chance at winning. Union is 10-4 when connecting on at least 35 percent of its field-goal attempts, but 1-10 when shooting under 35 percent from the field this season.
ABOUT THE SAINTS: St. Lawrence is in the postseason for the fourth straight season and has captured four conference tournament titles since 2004. Elizabeth Flynn averages a double-double to pace the Saints this season, scoring 11.6 points per game and grabbing 12.2 boards per contest to lead the Liberty League. Flynn also ranks 14th in Division III in rebounding average and eighth in total rebounds (305), while she is also top-20 in the country with 14 double-doubles. Complementing Flynn from the outside is Jackie Malley, who has knocked down a conference-best 54 three-pointers on the year and ranks 25th in the country in three-pointers attempted (191).
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to the Liberty League Tournament semifinals on Friday, where they will head to Poughkeepsie to take on top-seeded Vassar College.
2024 Liberty League Women's Basketball Tournament
Tuesday, February 20, 2024 – First Round
#6 Rochester Institute of Technology at #3 Ithaca College, 5:30 p.m.
#5 Union College at #4 St. Lawrence University, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, February 23, 2024 – Semifinals
St. Lawrence/Union at #1 Vassar College
Ithaca/RIT at #2 Skidmore College
Sunday, February 25, 2024 – Championship
Semifinal Winners
