GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College basketball team secured the fourth and final spot in the Liberty League Tournament field with a 72-70 win over St. Lawrence in the regular season finale for both squads. Senior Sydni Salvatore led three Herons in double figures with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting including a game-high four 3-pointers.
The Herons (16-9, 10-6) shot a season-high 53.2 percent from the floor and drained 9-of-12 from 3-point land. Sophomore Chloe Hayter added 18 points and junior Erin O'Brien contributed 12 points and a team-high seven assists. Junior Jacqueline Murphy pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
The Saints (17-8, 11-5) shot 46.3 percent from the floor and made 9-of-19 from beyond the arc. Junior Kelly Legg led all scorers with 22 points for SLU. Kara McDuffee scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting with three 3-pointers. Hannah Wilson tossed in 12 points off the bench. Amanda Roberts recorded seven assists.
Trying to send the team's three seniors off with a victory, the Herons came out on fire, building a 13-4 lead through the first seven minutes of play. Salvatore and classmate Sarah O'Brien got things going with back-to-back treys. St. Lawrence rallied, scoring seven straight points late in the half to take a 22-21 lead on a Legg 3-pointer. The teams traded the lead back-and-forth down the stretch with junior Sasha Borenstein getting the final say on a layup for a 33-32 halftime lead.
A 12-4 run to start the second half gave the Saints their largest lead of the day, 44-37. McDuffee was the key player in the run, connecting from long range and adding a traditional 3-point play. William Smith responded with 13 unanswered points to build a 50-44 lead with 10:20 remaining. A Salvatore trey stretched the advantage to 58-48 with 8:36 left.
The Saints didn't go quietly, whittling their deficit down to two twice in the final two minutes. SLU scored seven straight points in a two-minute span to make it a 64-62 game with 2:03 to go, but Salvatore converted a layup and senior Jaimie Rubin made four consecutive free throws to run the lead back out to eight.
St. Lawrence again got within two, 72-70, with 1.1 seconds left, but Allison Cady missed the second of two free throws and Murphy secured the rebound and the win.
William Smith will enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed, traveling to No. 1 Vassar (21-4, 13-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 20. The Saints will be the No. 2 seed, hosting No. 3 Skidmore (12-13, 10-6).