SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team shot 54 percent from the field over the middle two periods as the Garnet Chargers raced past St. Lawrence University for an 80-57 win in the teams' Liberty League opener on Friday night at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Senior Kate Peek led the way for Union (4-1, 1-0 Liberty League) with a game-high 19 points, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field and 5-of-8 from long range. Senior Jelena Perovic and sophomore Olivia Cunningham both chipped in 14 points apiece as well, with Cunningham coming one rebound short of a double-double and Perovic adding five boards and a game-high four assists. Seniors Grace Ardito and Grace Ceseretti also scored seven points each as the Union starters outscored their SLU counterparts by a 61-34 margin.
 
Junior Morgan Schultz provided some scoring off the bench with nine points and six rebounds in 16 minutes, while first-year Ryley Tate-Padian netted seven points and grabbed eight caroms in 15 minutes of work as well.
 
As a team, Union shot 43.6 percent (34 of 78) from the field and 41.2 percent (7 of 17) from beyond the arc. The Garnet Chargers also were very strong in the paint, grabbing 50 rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points and a commanding 42-14 edge in paint scoring.
 
After some missed shots at the outset allowed St. Lawrence (4-2, 0-1 Liberty League) to take an early 6-2 advantage, Ceseretti hit a jumper and Peek nailed her first triple of the game to give the home team its first lead. The teams traded the lead for the next few minutes until another trey by Peek put Union up 14-12 and the lead never changed again. A layup by Schultz at the buzzer made the score 18-16 in favor of the home team after 10 minutes.
 
Union came out red-hot to begin the second stanza, hitting its first eight shots from the field on the way to a 17-4 run that quickly blew the game open. Peek had a team-best seven points during the four-minute stretch, followed by Perovic and Tate-Padian with four each and Cunningham with two. The team shot 11-of-22 overall in the period to take a 42-29 lead into halftime.
 
Not content to sit on the lead, the Garnet Chargers shot 58.8 percent (10 of 17) in the third period to take full control of the contest. A Cunningham jumper with 2:31 on the clock finished off a 9-0 run and put Union up 24 at 61-37, and the lead got back to 24 on two more occasions before the end of the frame on buckets by Schultz and Cunningham.
 
A 10-2 run early in the fourth built the lead up to as many as 30 points with 6:47 to go in the game, and the home team cruised the rest of the way.
 
Union will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow, when the team plays its final home game of 2025 with a 2 p.m. conference matchup against Clarkson University.