SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – After pulling off the only upset of the first round, the Union College women's basketball team looks to keep the momentum going when the fifth-seeded Garnet Chargers ride their five-game winning streak into Poughkeepsie to take on top-seeded and WBCA #23 Vassar College in the semifinals of the Liberty League Tournament on Friday at 7 p.m.
 
Union enters the semifinals with a 12-14 (10-8 Liberty League) record after finishing the regular season in a tie with St. Lawrence (12-13, 10-8 Liberty League) for fourth place. The team will take on top-seeded Vassar (23-2, 17-1 Liberty League), which lost in only its second and second-to-last games of the regular season. Second-seeded Skidmore College will host third-seeded Ithaca College in Friday's other semifinal.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Union is in the conference tournament for the third straight season and is making its second semifinal appearance in three years under third-year head coach Katie Marcella. The team is 3-12 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 6-16 all-time in conference tournament games. 
 
HOW WE GOT HERE: Union won a conference tournament game for the second time in three years with a 64-58 comeback victory over St. Lawrence on Tuesday. Senior Kennedy Clark eclipsed her season high with a team-best 15 points to go with a career-best seven assists and six rebounds, followed by junior Jenna Forman with 13 points and eight boards as well as sophomore Jelena Perovic with a double-double of 12 points and 12 caroms. The Garnet Chargers trailed by as many as 15 (44-29) early in the third period before closing the game on a 35-14 run over the final 17:47, shooting 50.0 percent (14 of 28) from the field with just one turnover while limiting the Saints to 5-of-32 shooting (15.6 percent). The victory was Union's first postseason win on the road since an ECAC Upstate Tournament semifinal win over the University of Rochester in 2005 and its first conference tournament victory in a true road game since knocking off Hamilton College in the 2001 UCAA semifinals in Clinton.
 
ALL-TIME VS. VASSAR: Friday's matchup will be the 68th all-time meeting between Union and Vassar. The Garnet Chargers hold a 36-31 advantage since the first meeting in 1980, but the Brewers have captured 12 of the last 13 contests, including the last eight. The teams' lone postseason meeting came last season, when Vassar earned a 73-57 win in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament. Vassar won both regular-season meetings this year, posting a 70-60 win in Schenectady on January 19 and a 60-53 victory in Poughkeepsie on February 3.
 
SOPHOMORE SURGE: Sophomore Jelena Perovic is averaging a team-best 12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game so far this season and is one of four players to rank in the top-nine of the Liberty League in both categories. The forward also leads the conference by shooting 49.2 percent (122 of 248) from the field so far this season.
 
CLARK COMING ON: Senior Kennedy Clark has stepped up her game in recent weeks, scoring in double figures in seven of the team's last eight outings. In addition to averaging 10.8 points per game during the stretch, the point guard also is averaging 4.0 rebounds and nearly 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game as well. On the season, the point guard ranks second on the team in scoring at 7.8 points per game and leads the team with 63 assists and 34 steals.
 
RECORD-SETTING BALL SECURITY: One of Union's keys to success on Tuesday was its lack of turnovers. The team's five giveaways are the fewest all season and are tied for lowest in a game in program history, matching a 83-62 win over William Smith College on January 28, 2014 and a 67-48 win over Skidmore College on February 8, 2022.
 
'DITO FROM DOWNTOWN: Sophomore Grace Ardito is 11-of-25 from three-point land over the last seven contests and is shooting 44.9 percent from long range this season, hitting 22 of her 49 three-point attempts, ranking second on the team in threes behind Clark.
 
BLOCK PARTY: Junior Jenna Forman ranks second in the Liberty League with 42 blocks this season, a mark that ranks eighth on Union's single-season list. The forward also sits third on the team by averaging 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game so far in 2023-24.
 
DRIVE FOR 35: Union ranks second in the Liberty League by holding opponents to 32.9 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 11-4 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.
 
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: During the team's five-game winning streak, Union has outscored its opponents by 37 points (97-60) during the fourth period, including a 20-12 margin on Tuesday at St. Lawrence. On the season, the fourth period has been Union's most productive 10 minutes (424 points), compared to just 295 points and a -102 scoring margin in the opening 10 minutes.

ABOUT THE BREWERS: Vassar, one of 18 teams in Division III with two or fewer losses, enters the week ranked 23rd in the WBCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll and also is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national rankings. The Brewers, who are also second in the latest NCAA Region III rankings, are 10-7 all-time in conference tournament play and have captured three Liberty League titles in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
 
This season the team lost its second game of the year to SUNY New Paltz and then rattled off 21 straight victories before a loss to William Smith College in the penultimate game of the regular season. Vassar ranks second in the Liberty League in scoring offense (67.7 ppg) and scoring defense (52.7 ppg), outscoring opponents by a conference-best 15.0 points per game. The Brewers are the best rebounding team (43.4 rpg) and the best free-throw shooting team (72.0 percent) in the conference and also shoot 30.0 percent from long range.
 
Individually, the team boasts three of the top-four scorers in the conference, with just three points separating the season outputs of Julia Harvey (14.2 ppg), Sierra McDermed (14.2 ppg) and Tova Gelb (14.1 ppg). Gelb also ranks fourth among Liberty League players in rebounding (9.2 rpg) and steals (1.9 spg) and sits second in field-goal percentage (47.1) percent as well behind only Union's Jelena Perovic. Harvey is the conference's top shooter from the foul line at 83.0 percent, while McDermed ranks second among conference players in three-pointers made (44) and fifth in blocks (29).

WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Liberty League Tournament championship on Sunday, to be held at the home court of the higher seed.
 
2024 Liberty League Women's Basketball Tournament

Tuesday, February 20, 2024 – First Round
#3 Ithaca College 78, #6 Rochester Institute of Technology 59
#5 Union College 64, #4 St. Lawrence University 58
 
Friday, February 23, 2024 – Semifinals
#5 Union College at #1 Vassar College, 7 p.m.
#3 Ithaca College at #2 Skidmore College, 5:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, February 25, 2024 – Championship
Semifinal Winners