Box Score
Box Score

CANTON, N.Y. -The St. Lawrence women's basketball senior class combined for 51 points and a 79-72 overtime victory over visiting Rensselaer in Burkman Gymnasium. The Saints improve to 17-7 and a 10-4 conference mark to close out the regular season, while Rensselaer falls to 18-6 and 10-4 against Liberty League opponents.

With the win, St. Lawrence secures themselves as the second seed in the Liberty League Tournament, where they will face the No. 3 Red Hawks in one of two semifinal matchups next Friday. Union won the Liberty League regular season and will host the tournament, and faces fourth seed Skidmore College in the other semifinal game.

Rensselaer began the contest with six unanswered points. The Red Hawks only missed three shots in the first six minutes to earn a 14-4 advantage over the Saints, forcing a St. Lawrence timeout to regroup. When the home team returned to the floor, they controlled every aspect of the game and shut down RPI's fiery offense, as they outscored their opponent 24-2 in the ensuing six and a half minutes of the frame to jump out to a 28-16 lead while forcing six Rensselaer turnovers.

The visiting team regained some momentum off a three-point play, but the Saints were able to maintain their edge over the Red Hawks, only allowing them to get as close as six points with 2:12 left in the period, but a 6-2 stint down the stretch closed out the half with a 39-29 score in favor of St. Lawrence. 

St. Lawrence overcame the first half deficit and tied things up to force an exciting overtime period. St. Lawrence enjoyed a double-digit edge over Rensselaer (43-33, 15:36) before RPI went on a 12-3 tear to get within one of the Scarlet and Brown, with the scoreboard reading 46-45 in favor of St. Lawrence.

Rensselaer's defense kept the game within reach, while its offense shot 44.8 percent from the floor in the remaining 20 minutes of regulation. The Red Hawks tied things up at 51-51 with 8:08 to play but St. Lawrence never gave up the lead as they earned as much as a five point edge over RPI, but Rensselaer outlasted the Saints in the final 2:38 as a 7-2 run tied things up at 67-67 with 29 seconds left. St. Lawrence had a chance to earn the win at the end, but a last second foul handed possession back to RPI, who missed a half-court shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

The visiting team earned a 71-70 edge over St. Lawrence, their first since early in the opening stanza, off a three from Kerry Hayes with 3:25 remaining, but RPI went just 1-for-10 in the extra five minutes. The Scarlet and Brown shot 50-percent from the floor in the period and made 6-of-10 free throws to secure the 79-72 victory for the Saints.

Rensselaer was led by Whitney Coleman, who scored 23 points, while Caitlyn Charest, Sarah Wetmore and Elizabeth Barker combined for 41 points and 19 rebounds.

The Red Hawks will look to upset the Saints next weekend in the Liberty League semifinals in retaliation for the two overtime wins St. Lawrence earned against them in the regular season. The games will be held at Union College with times yet to be determined.