CANTON, N.Y.—St. Lawrence University (4-4) opened up a 12 point halftime lead en route to a 71-49 victory over the SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (4-7) in Canton.  Sophomore forward Jessica Kouzan and junior guard Katy Briedis each scored 10 points to lead the Bears.

After trading leads in the opening minutes, the Saints pulled away from Potsdam with a 15-0 run to build a 23-10 lead with 9:34 left in the half. St. Lawrence eventually extended its lead to 18, 32-14, with 5:23 on the clock. At 4:20, Briedis connected for a three-pointer and ignited a 12-6 finish to the half. A jumper by Kouzan at 1:26 cut the gap to just eight, but the Saints closed the half with the final four points and took a 38-26 lead into the break. The Bears shot nearly 38 percent in the opening 20 minutes and St. Lawrence hit a scorching 53 percent of their shots.

The Saints opened the second half on an 18-4 run to build a 24-point 56-32 advantage, their biggest of the game. The Bears struggled from the floor in the final period, shooting just under 24 percent. However Potsdam was stronger defensively as it held St. Lawrence to just 27 percent shooting in the second half.

Katie Edgerton and Casey Capello each led the Saints with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman guard Bailey Weigel scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds for Potsdam and senior captain Bailey Weigel chipped in another six points and five boards.

The Bears forced 20 St. Lawrence turnovers, but finished with 29 of their own.

"We killed ourselves with turnovers today," said Potsdam Head Coach Tara Ruckh. "We can't do that and win games. We have to get better handling the ball under pressure and we missed a lot of makeable shots. Still we didn't give up. I give the team credit for continuing to play hard to the end."

Potsdam returns to action on Jan. 10, at 6 p.m. when the Bears host SUNYAC rival New Paltz.