CANTON, N.Y. – The fifth-seeded Union College women's basketball team outscored fourth-seeded St. Lawrence University by a 37-18 margin over the final 20 minutes as the Garnet Chargers stormed back to defeat the Saints by a 64-58 score in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Tuesday evening at Burkman Gymnasium.
 
With the win, Union (12-14) advances to the conference semifinals for the second time in the last three years, where the Garnet Chargers will face off with top-seeded and #23 Vassar College on Friday in Poughkeepsie.
 
Senior Kennedy Clark scored a season-best 15 points to lead Union to the win while also filling up the stat sheet with a career-high seven assists and six rebounds. Junior Jenna Forman had a huge second half to finish with 13 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Jelena Perovic posted a big double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds to go with four assists and three blocks.
 
The first period featured plenty of back-and-forth action, with the teams combining for just two fouls in a free-flowing frame. Clark and junior Emma Riley led Union with five points apiece as the Garnet Chargers shot 50.0 percent (8 of 16) from the field. Nine straight points gave SLU a 12-5 lead with four minutes gone by, but Clark had all five of her points during an 11-3 run that put Union back on top 16-15 before a late Saint run put the home team up 20-18 after 10 minutes.
 
Union cooled down considerably from the field in the second stanza, as the Saints outscored the Garnet Chargers 20-9 in the period to take a 40-27 lead into the half. Both teams shot 3-for-11 over the first six-plus minutes of the period as SLU held a 30-25 lead; however, the Saints closed on a 10-2 run to take the momentum into the locker rooms. Union finished the second period shooting 3-of-17 from the field.
 
A jumper by Mason Baker-Schlendering built up a 46-32 lead for St. Lawrence with 5:28 left in the third, but Union turned the tides dramatically over the final five minutes. The Garnet Chargers rattled off 12 straight points, including six in a row from Perovic, to get back within a basket at 46-44. A late layup by junior Sophia Poplyk finished off the run and gave the visitors all the momentum headed to the fourth.
 
SLU ended the run on the opening possession of the fourth, but sophomore Grace Arcoleo responded with a three to make it a one-point game in the opening minute. After a defensive stop, Forman hit a pair of free throws to put the visitors back on top for the first time since the opening period at 49-48. Forman followed with three more layups as she established herself in the paint and finished off an 11-1 run to put Union ahead 55-49 with under four minutes remaining.
 
SLU hit its first field goal of the fourth with 3:50 on the clock and added another to make it a two-point game with 2:48 left. However, Clark responded with a tough bucket in traffic to bump the lead back up to four, and that was followed up by a huge Poplyk three and a Perovic layup to balloon the lead to nine (62-53) with 1:18 on the clock. From there, Union just needed to play solid defense and hit a couple free throws to pull off the stunning comeback victory.
 
After a bad second period, Union hit 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) shots from the field in the final two periods to end the game at 40.6 percent (26 of 64) for the evening. Helped by a 2-for-22 effort in the third quarter, St. Lawrence ended the night at 25.0 percent (19 of 76) from the field and 9-of-34 (26.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
The Garnet Chargers took excellent care of the ball with only five turnovers, tied for the fewest in a game since at least 2010, and outscored the Saints 34-18 in the paint.
 
More information on Friday's game, including game time, while be available later this week on UnionAthletics.com.