Vassar Brewers Have Improved to 3-0 in League Play

By Amie Canfield

POUGHKEEPSIE – Powered by a game-high 19 points each from senior captains Sarah Gillooly and Dani Douglas, the Vassar College women’s basketball team posted a 60-54 win over Union College in Liberty League play on Tuesday night. The win – Vassar’s third in a row – moves the Brewers to 3-5 overall and 3-0 in league action. The Dutchwomen are now 1-4 and 1-2 in the Liberty League.

It was a close contest after the opening half of action with Vassar clutching onto a 29-28 lead over the Dutchwomen. A trey from Gillooly made a statement to open the third quarter and she followed it up with a layup to give the homestanding Brewers a six-point (34-28) edge. A jumper off the fingertips of reigning Liberty League Rookie of the Week, Julia Harvey extended the VC lead, but Union struck back, as freshman Claudia Porto drained a three to make it 36-33 at 5:02.

The visitors continued to chip away at the lead, aided by four free throw makes and a layup from senior Darby Leid to cut it to two (41-39) at 3:13. Union capitalized at the line once again as junior Kendall Degenhardt drained both her shots for a 41-all tie with 2:47 on the clock.

Vassar countered the momentum, taking advantage of several turnovers, a pair of missed buckets, coupled with layups from Harvey and Douglas to take a 45-41 advantage into the final quarter of action.

In the final quarter, it was a back-and-forth battle as a layup from junior Olivia Pachla cut the margin to 47-45 at 6:51. With the Brewers later leading 52-47, Pachla stepped up once again with a make and a free throw to pull it to 52-50. Late in the quarter with the Dutchwomen threatening once more, the Brewers responded as Douglas scored a pair of free throws and sank a layup to seal the Vassar victory.

Gillooly added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Douglas posted two boards, a block and three steals. Harvey added 14 points, with three boards, three assists and two steals, while juniors Alex Lee and Eliza Srinivasan also had three steals each.

Senior Amber Raisner led Union in scoring, dropping in 11 points with five rebounds and a steal. Leid added 10 points and a game-best nine boards, while also adding game-highs in assists (5) and steals (4). Pachla finished with nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals.

Vassar is now idle for the holidays and returns to action on January 5 in a 2pm contest at Clark University.