Albany, NY- The Sage Colleges' women's basketball team hosted the Dutchwomen of Union College on Thursday night in a non-conference contest. Sage survived with a 54-52 win to improve to 5-4 on the season, while Union falls to 3-4.
After taking an early 19-1 lead in the first quarter, Sage held a 30-24 lead at the half before Union tied the action in the third quarter for the first time at 34-34 with 4:58 left to play. Union held a brief four-point lead with 0:23 left to play in the third quarter, 38-34 as sophomore forward Sophie Borg (Farmington, CT/Farmington) and senior Abby Katz (Andover, MA/Andover) hit back to back layups. Union finished the third quarter with a 38-37 lead, but Sage was able to overcome poor shooting and took the lead for good with 7:23 left in the fourth quarter as they lead sophomore Emily Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) hit a jumper give the Gators a 42-41 lead. Sage held on and lead by as many as seven points in the fourth, 51-44 (2:37), before a Union run as senior Erin Lyons (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) added a pair of free throws, and then converted a three-point play with 0:11 left, pulling Union within one point, 53-52. Parslow was fouled and went to the line making the first of a pair before a last second shot by Katz was missed from three-point range and Borg hauled in the rebound and put up a pair of jumpers only to miss as the clock expired.
For the game, Sage's junior forward Genevieve Schoff (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) tallied a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out of the contest with 2:23 left to play. Schoff has now tallied 14 career double-doubles, while watching her resume grow as she has 766 points with 483 rebounds. She is currently No. 11 in career points, while ranking No. 7 in rebounds.
Parslow tied her season-high with 14 points, while senior guard Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) added 14 points with two steals. Pearson is closing in on her 1,000th career point as she has 839 points, which ranks 8th all-time at Sage.
Union's Lyons finished with a game-high 18 points after connecting 12 points in the second half. She was joined in double-digit scoring by sophomore guard Nicole Conley (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) who tallied 14 points off the bench with seven rebounds. Katz added seven points with seven rebounds, while Borg led the squad with eight rebounds and added eight points with two steals. Union combined for six blocked shots and held Sage to just 33.3% shooting for the game, after limiting the Gators to just 2-15 in the third quarter.
Sage hosts the Dolphins of the College of Mt. St. Vincent on December 10 at 1 p.m. in a Skyline Conference game. Prior to the contest Sage will honor and recognize the 2015-2016 Women's Basketball Team with the unveiling of the team's Skyline Conference regular-season banner. Union College travels to MCLA on December 10 for a non-conference match-up with the Trailblazers at Noon in North Adams, MA.