Box Score GENEVA, N.Y.–The William Smith College basketball team defeated Vassar College, 74-65, to advance to the UCAA semifinals. The Herons got double-double efforts from sophomore forward Laura Hadwin (Vestal/Vestal, N.Y.) and junior center Leah Cornwell (Wheatland-Chili/Caledonia, N.Y.) to top the Brewers for the third time this season.

In the first half, William Smith jumped out to leads of 8-1 and 21-12 before a Vassar 9-1 run closed the gap to 22-21. The Herons scored the next eight points for a 30-21 advantage, but the shooting of Brewer Lisa Ercolano kept Vassar within five, trailing 35-30 at the half. Ercolano had 18 first half points.

In the second half, a Hadwin three-point play gave William Smith an eight-point lead at the 17:34 mark, but the Brewers answered every challenge. Vassar closed to 52-51 with eight minutes remaining and forged 57-all and 59-all ties with less than five minutes to go, but couldn't grab the lead. At the 3:38 mark senior guard Brianna Tindall (Pultney/Castleton, Vt.) buried a three-pointer to give William Smith the lead for good at 62-59. Clutch free throw shooting iced the game for the Herons as they went on to the 74-65 victory.

Hadwin led William Smith with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Cornwell scored 17 points and pulled down 11 boards, while junior guard Jeanne Marie Vinchiarello (Our Lady of Lourdes/Dover Plains, N.Y.) and Tindall finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Ercolano led all scorers with 26 points. The Herons made 30 of their 36 free throw attempts.

No. 4 seed William Smith (15-9) will face host No. 1 seed St. Lawrence University Feb. 24, in the UCAA semifinals.

–HWS SPORTS–