POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Junior Jelena Perovic led all players with 18 points as the Union College women's basketball team knocked off first-place Vassar College by a 60-49 score in a key Liberty League matchup on Friday night at the Vassar Athletic and Fitness Center.
 
The win is a big one for Union (10-6, 7-2 Liberty League), moving the Garnet Chargers into a tie for second place in the Liberty League with Vassar (11-5, 7-2 Liberty League), just a half-game behind first-place Ithaca College. At the midway point of conference play, Union will enter the second half already with wins over both the Bombers and Brewers.
 
Perovic had 14 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, allowing the visitors to maintain their advantage despite several Vassar challenges. Senior Jenna Forman also had a big game in the paint with nine points to go with game- and career-highs of 13 rebounds and six blocks, while junior Kate Peek chipped in 10 points and first-year Olivia Cunningham added nine.
 
Tova Gelb matched Perovic for the game-high with 18 points and added 10 rebounds to lead the Brewers, followed by Julia Harvey with 13 points.
 
Union shot 58.3 percent (7 of 12) from the field in the opening stanza to jump out to an 19-11 lead after 10 minutes. With Vassar holding a 11-9 lead with 2:56 remaining, the visitors rattled off 10 straight points to end the period, helped by five points from Cunningham and a three by Peek. Peek led all players with six points in the opening period.
 
The Garnet Chargers cooled off in the second stanza, hitting 5-of-17 shots (29.4 percent), but still took a four-point edge into the half. The visitors led by as many as 10 points on four occasions in the period, the last coming after a jumper from Perovic with 4:54 on the clock that put Union up 27-17. The team missed its next nine shots to allow the Brewers to get back within two entering the final minute before Forman connected with 51 seconds left to put the visitors up by two possessions at the midway point.
 
Union outscored Vassar by two in the third period to take a 43-37 advantage into the final frame. A 9-2 run midway through the period, capped by a Perovic putback, bumped the Garnet Charger lead back to 11 at 41-30 with 3:26 remaining. But the Brewers outscored their opponents by five the rest of the way to get back within range.
 
However, the Garnet Chargers started the final stanza with a 7-1 run, forcing Vassar into an 0-for-6 start to the period, to regain control. A three by senior Emma Riley with the shot clock winding down started the run, and then back-to-back buckets by Perovic allowed Union to take the game's largest lead at 50-38 with 5:17 left. Union matched Vassar basket-for-basket over the next three minutes to keep the lead in double figures and never allowed the Brewers to get closer than nine the rest of the way.
 
Union finished the game shooting 42.4 percent (25 of 59) from the field and outscored Vassar 34-22 in the paint. Defensively, the Garnet Chargers limited the Brewers to 26.4 percent (14 of 53) shooting and would have won by more if not for the home team's 25-10 edge in free-throw attempts.
 
Union will finish off an important conference weekend tomorrow with a quick trip across the river to battle with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute beginning at 2 p.m. in Troy.