Poughkeepsie, NY – Junior Tova Gelb (Sharon, MA) scored a game-high 20 points and led three Brewers in double-figures as the Vassar College Women's Basketball team advanced to the 2024 Liberty League Championship Final with an impressive 64-53 Semifinal win over Union Friday night.

Friday's win pushes Vassar to 24-2 overall on the season and gives it nine straight victories over the Garnet Chargers. Union sees is 2023-24 season come to close at 12-15 overall.

First Half

• Neither team would score on Friday until an Emma Riley free-throw gave Union a 1-0 lead at the 7:48 mark of the first quarter.
• The first field goal of the game came at the 6:42 mark when Gelb got the Brewers on the board with a jumper.
• Following a Kennedy Clark three-pointer gave the visitors a 6-4 lead, Gelb converted a three-point play to give the Brewers a 7-6 advantage and the lead for good in the game.
• Union climbed back to within 11-10 with 2:01 left in the first frame, but Vassar closed with the final seven points, including a Sierra McDermed (San Antonio, TX) three-pointer at the horn to carry an 18-10 lead into the second quarter.
• A Julia Harvey (Delmar, NY) triple early in the second quarter pushed the Brewers in front 21-12 and a Gelb bucket at the 8:05 mark built the Vassar lead to double-figures for the first time at 23-12.
• Vassar would move its lead out to 12 points on three occasions before finishing the half on a 7-0 run to take a 38-21 lead.
• Vassar held Union without a field goal over the final 4:05 of the second quarter.
• Vassar went into halftime shooting 44.1-percent and caught fire from three-point range, knocking in five of its 11 attempts from behind the arc.
• Union shot just 26.7-percent over the opening 20 minutes and went 1-for-10 from three-point range.
• McDermed had an efficient first half, going 7-for-11 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers to lead all scorers at the break with 16 points.
• Union was led by 10 first half points from Jelena Perovic.

Second Half

• A Harvey three-pointer at the 7:16 mark of the third quarter gave Vassar its largest lead of the game at 42-23.
• The Brewers would not allow the Garnet Chargers closer than 11 points throughout the third period and got three straight points from Tash Thompson (Los Altos Hills, CA) in the final minute of the quarter to build the lead back to 51-36 heading to the final stanza.
• Union opened the final period on a 15-6 run to whittle the Vassar lead down to just 57-51 on a Perovic layup with 3:11 left to play.
• Vassar got a three-point play from Gelb to spread the lead back out to nine points ahead of a pair of free-throws with 68 seconds left to get the advantage back to double-figures.
• A pair of Mo Regan (Oak Lawn, IL) free-throws in the final 35 seconds gave the Brewers a 64-51 lead before a late conversion from Union closed out the scoring in the contest.
• Vassar slipped to 36.3-percent shooting after halftime and went 2-for-5 in the second half from three-point range.
• Union improved to 35.7-percent shooting in the second half and continued to struggled from three-point range, going just 2-for-11 from behind the arc.

For The Brewers

• Gelb closed a strong night 7-for-15 from the floor with a three-pointer on the way to a game-high point total. Gelb finished the contest matching the team-high with seven rebounds to go along with two blocks and a pair of steals.
• McDermed finished with 17 points, six rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
• Harvey rounded out a trio in double-figures with 12 points while collecting six rebounds.
• Naiya Kurnik (Fallbrook, CA) totaled seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
• Bella Tawney (Simsbury, CT) blocked a pair of shots and secured four boards.
• Caroline Siekman (Islesboro, ME) came off the bench to lead the team with five assists, chipping in three points and four rebounds.
• Maddie Ahearn (Bethlehem, PA) blocked two shots and secured a pair of rebounds.

For The Garnet Chargers

• Perovic led Union with 18 points, going 6-for-11 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
• Clark scored 11 points and added seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
• Emma Riley finished with seven points and seven boards.

Game Statistics

• Vassar shot 41.1-percent for the game and went 7-for-16 from three-point range.
• Union was held to 31-percent shooting, including a 3-for-19 effort from three-point range.
• Vassar finished with a slim 28-24 edge in paint points.
• The Brewers secured 14 offensive rebounds in the game and outscored the Garnet Chargers by three in second chance points.

What's Next

• The Brewers host Skidmore Sunday afternoon in the championship final.

Game Notes

Vassar beat Union three times this season by an average of 9.3 points per game…The Brewers advance to the Liberty League Championship Final for the first time since 2020…Gelb reached the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season…Friday marked the first time the Brewers have shot better than 40-percent from three-point range since going 8-for-16 against Clarkson on January 6.