Vassar Brewers Fall to Oneonta Red Dragons

POUGHKEEPSIE – The Vassar women’s basketball team dropped their first game of the season to Oneonta, 75-59, in the Championship Game of the Vassar Tip Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

“Today’s game was rough for us, we didn’t do a lot of the little things that we wanted to,” said Head Coach Candice Signor-Brown. “We got beat on the boards and we gave up way too many second chance points. We played a really good fourth quarter, we held them to shooting 31.3%, but if we could play that well in the third, second, and first quarters I think we would have had a fighting chance. We have something to grow from and we have a quick turnaround as far as Tuesday’s game is concerned. So hopefully we’ll grow from this and be prepared for Tuesday.”

Ariella Rosenthal recorded a team-high 18 points against the Red Dragons while picking up six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Two other Brewers were in double figures, Julia Roelke tallied 14 points and eight boards and Isa Peczuh had 12 points off 4-9 shooting from the three-point line.

Oneonta blitzed Vassar from the get go, scoring 21 points in the first 10 minutes while holding the Brewers to just 15. The lead only got larger in the second quarter as Oneonta was up 29-15 with just over seven minutes to play in the frame. The Brewers continued to fight and managed to bring the deficit down to 10 at the half (35-25).

The third quarter was the highest scoring frame for the visiting side. They put up 25 points while shooting 57.9% from the field (11-19). Vassar managed just 14 points in the third and this was where the game was nearly put out of reach, down by 21 at the beginning of the fourth.

Roelke and Rosenthal fueled a Brewer run in the final stanza that minimized the deficit to 13, but with under a minute to play it wasn’t enough. Those two players combined for 11 points and two assists in the fourth quarter, over half of the Brewers 20 points scored. The defense stepped up too, holding Oneonta to 5-16 shooting in the final 10 minutes.

For the game, the Red Dragons shot 48.4% from the field and 72.7% at the free throw line.

The Brewers shot 36.4% (24-66) from the field and 75% at the line.