POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Vassar College women's basketball team held No. 3 seed William Smith College to 28 second-half points, turning a eight-point halftime deficit into a 81-70 Liberty League Tournament semi-final win over the Herons in action from the Athletics and Fitness Center (AFC) Wednesday evening.

                  The second-seeded Brewers (21-5) tied the season record for wins in a year with the victory, and now will play at top-seeded St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY Saturday at a time to be determined. The Saints defeated fourth-seed Rochester Institute of Technology 65-52 in the other semifinal.

                  The first half of the contest was back-and-forth, with the Brewers holding their biggest lead of eight at 22-14 after a fast-break layup from Hannah Senftleber (Burlington, VT/Burlington). The Herons (19-7) responded by inching back into the game, taking a one point lead 30-29 with 4:55 to go in the frame.

                  From that point, William Smith tallied the game's next 10 points to take its largest lead of the tilt at 40-30. WSC would take a 42-34 edge into the intermission after Molly Breen hit a lay-up just before the halftime buzzer. Melanie Patterson had a team-best 12 points on four-of-four shooting for William Smith, while Senftleber paced all scorers with 16 points.

                  After the break, the Brewers would make their move, going on an 11-2 run over the first 3:34 of the period to retake the lead at 45-44 following a triple from senior Cydni Matsuoka (Sacramento, CA/John F. Kennedy). WSC forged back in front with the games next five points, but another three from Matsuoka and a layup from Caitlin Drakeley (Woodbury, CT/Nonnewaug) gave VC another advantage at 50-49.

                  After the two teams traded buckets, Vassar methodically grew its lead up to seven with 10:31 on the clock after another three from the senior guard. Patterson scored five points straight to bring WSC to within two, but the Brewers scored seven in a row to take a 71-62 edge.

                  Down the stretch, the Brewers held William Smith to just one made field goal over the last 4:33 to pull away for the win and avenge two earlier season losses to the Herons. Matsuoka was stellar once again, scoring 27 points for the third straight game Wednesday, making eight-of-14 from the floor and all eight of her charity shots.

                  Matsuoka played all 40 minutes for Vassar, and dished out six assists and grabbed six rebounds. Senftleber registered her 10^th double-double of the year with 23 points and 10 boards, and Drakeley also logged a double-double, her ninth of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

                  Junior Allyson Pemberton (Weston, MA/Weston) hit all three of her field goals for seven points, and Rose Serafini (Milton, Ontario, Canada/Milton Area) had four points, six boards and two blocks. Vassar fired 48.4 percent (30-62) from the floor, and connected on 17 of the 23 shots from the free throw line (73.9 percent). VC also won the rebounding battle 38-36, and  gave away the ball just six times, including none in the second frame.

                  William Smith put three players in double digits, led by the 17 off the bench from Patterson. Chloe Hayter posted 16 points and seven caroms, and senior guard ended her fantastic career with 16 points, nine assists and four boards. WSC knocked down 27-of-63 from the floor, which included a solid 47.1 percent (8-17) from deep.

                  The win was the Brewers fifth all-time in the Liberty League Tournament, who moved to 5-1 all-time in the conference dance. Make sure to check www.vassarathletics.com Thursday afternoon for Saturday's Liberty League title game start time.