GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith basketball team erased a 12-point second half deficit to post a 60-53 Liberty League victory over Union tonight.
Ashlinn Barber led the comeback with 10 of her 12 points in the second half, while also adding nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots.
Union's Lindsay Hage hit a three-pointer three minutes into the second stanza to raise the visitor’s lead to 36-24. From there, William Smith rattled off 14 consecutive points to take a 38-36 lead with 11:47 remaining.
The lead changed hands four times over the next seven minutes. The Dutchwomen grabbed their final lead, 49-48, on a three by Rachel Beaulac.
Mollie Danahy put the Herons in front for good with a layup at the other end of the floor. Beaulac finished with 10 points off the bench, while Danahy logged 13 points, seven steals, five rebounds, and three assists.
Barber blocked a shot on defense and William Smith got the ball out of bounds, leading to
Kristen Kush’s jumper to extend the lead to 52-49. She finished with a team-high 14 points.
With two minutes left, Lauren McCormick sank a pair of free throws to get the Dutchwomen within one, but the Herons scored the game’s next five points and ended the contest on a 8-2 run. McCormick led Union with 15 points, while Megan Clark added 12 points and eight rebounds.
William Smith (6-12, 2-6) was outrebounded 50-32, but forced 26 Union turnovers, while committing just 14. That led the Herons to outscore the Dutchwomen 28-20 off turnovers. Rachel Titcomb led the Dutchwomen (6-13, 4-5) on the glass with a game-high 13 rebounds.
William Smith, which snapped a three-game losing streak, shot just 35.6 percent from the floor for the game, but connected on 43.3 percent in the second half. Union, which loss for the fourth straight time, shot 30 percent from the floor.
The Herons are back in action at 2 p.m. on Feb. 6, when they host Skidmore (16-3, 8-1). The Dutchwomen will travel to Hamilton (11-7, 4-4) for a 2 p.m. tipoff tomorrow.