GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College basketball team picked up its first Liberty League win of the season, defeating Vassar College 73-61 in Bristol Gym tonight. Sophomore Melanie Patterson led four Herons in double figures with a game-high 21 points.
 
William Smith (2-10, 1-3) enjoyed one of its best shooting performances of the season, connecting on 46 percent of its shots from the floor and 83 percent from the free throw line, making more freebies (20) than the Brewers' attempted (12). Patterson was 6-of-12 shooting with a 3 and 8-of-10 at the line. Senior Ali Pliszka added a career-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting with a 3 and a 6-for-6 effort at the line. She also had a career-high six assists. Senior Chloe Hayter scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting with a pair of 3s and 3-for-4 at the line.
 
The Herons controlled the glass, outrebounding Vassar (6-7, 1-3) 41-38. Sophomore Gabrielle Eure notched her fifth double-double of the season, collecting a game-high 14 rebounds to go with 13 points.
 
The Brewers put three players in double figures, led by junior guard Caitlin Drakeley's 17 points. Colleen O'Connell and Allyson Pemberton scored 13 points and 12 points, respectively.
 
William Smith, which remained undefeated at home against Vassar (17-0 all-time), never trailed in the contest and the only tie of the game was at 2-all. The Herons led by as many as eight in the opening 20 minutes, including 30-22 after Pliszka's 3-pointer at the 2:47 mark, but the Brewers scored the final 4 points of half to go into the locker room down 30-26.
 
William Smith dominated in the paint, outscoring the visitor's 20-6 in the first half and 36-12 overall. Vassar had a 19-17 rebounding advantage at halftime, but the Herons controlled the caroms after the break, 22-19.
 
Drakeley opened the second half scoring to make it a 2-point game, but William Smith seized control of the game with a 15-5 run that stretched the Heron lead to 12. Hayter opened and closed the run with 3-pointers.
 
It was an 8-point game as the clock ran down under 12 minutes remaining, but a 12-2 Heron run pushed the home team's advantage to a game-high 18 points with 7:21 to go. Eure had 5 points and Patterson 4 during the surge.
 
William Smith maintained a double digit lead for the rest of the night, snapping a five-game slide.
 
The Herons are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 17, when they host Bard (4-9, 0-5) at 2 p.m. Vassar returns to the court at the same time tomorrow at RIT (8-7, 2-4).