Brewers Best Skidmore

By Amie Canfield

POUGHKEEPSIE – Three Brewers notched double-figures to lead Vassar College to a 64-42 win over Skidmore College in Liberty League women’s basketball action on Wednesday evening. The victory moves VC to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play. The Thoroughbreds fall to 2-7 with an 0-3 Liberty League mark.

Senior guard Isa Peczuh paced Vassar with a game-high 12 points, including a 3-for-6 effort from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. She also added a game-high six assists to go along with a block and a steal. Classmate and forward Sophie Nick added 11 points with seven rebounds, a block and two steals, while junior guard Ryan DeOrio chipped in with 10 points, three assists and two steals.

For the Thoroughbreds, sophomore forward Clare Driscollhad a game-high 12 points to go along with a game-best nine rebounds. She also added two assists. Sophomore guard Kate McCarney and freshman guard Meggy Wiley each added seven points, while rookie guard Maddie Hastings added six points and four rebounds.

The Brewers jumped out to an early advantage with a 7-2 edge at the seven minute mark following an inside layup from Nick. Skidmore sophomore Toyin Koleoso pulled the visitors to within three (7-4) at the 4:46 mark, but the Brewers defense prevailed over the remainder of the quarter, allowing just one point. Nick continued to pace the effort adding five more points and several rebounds to send VC into the second stanza up 23-5.

Skidmore opened with a jumper as Driscoll drained one in the paint to make it 23-7 at 8:51. Vassar rebounded quickly as freshman Eliza Srinivasan drained back-to-back three pointers to build up a 29-7 advantage with 4:45 to play.

Following another Srinivasan trey with 1:09 to play in the quarter, Skidmore saw junior forward Meera Ratte sink a layup to pull Skidmore into double-figures with 39 seconds on the clock. Peczuh got the points back just before the break, hitting a pair of shots at the line.
Coming out of halftime, the Thoroughbreds found their momentum as back-to-back points from Driscoll and Koleoso closed the gap to 23 (39-16) at the 7:49 mark.

The Brewers continued to keep pace, powered by a three from Peczuh to go along with layups from Nick and senior Jackie Cenan for a 46-18 advantage at 5:28. A layup from DeOrio later turned it into a 33-point edge for the Brewers largest lead of the game. Skidmore took control at the end of the quarter with a 9-0 run, aided by five points from McCarney.

In the final quarter, Hastings cut the visitors deficit to 21 (59-38) with back-to-back layups, but Vassar kept up the momentum at the end for the victory.