The William Smith College basketball team put three players in double figures, but visiting Hamilton College foiled the Herons final home game of the calendar year, leaving town with a 65-52 non-conference win.
Brooke Jarvis, Olivia Parisi and Lauren DeVaney combined for 44 points and 35 rebounds. Jarvis was William Smith’s scoring leader with 18 points. Parisi recorded her fifth double-double of the season on 16 points and 14 rebounds. DeVaney also notched her fifth double-double of the year, scoring 10 points while grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. She also blocked a team-high three shots.
Hamilton’s Kelce Zarle registered a game-high 23 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor while also making a game-high five steals. Maria Mercado Rengel chipped in 16 points and was one of three Continentals with a team-high six boards. Emily Hall contributed six rebounds and a game-high five assists. Katie Hansen matched DeVaney’s three blocked shots.
Hamilton (6-3) jumped out to a 6-1 lead, but the Herons flew into the lead with nine straight points. DeVaney led the surge with a pair of buckets, Jarvis added a driving layup and Parisi capped it off with a traditional 3-point play.
Over the next three minutes, the Continentals battled back to take a 14-13 lead, but William Smith closed out the opening quarter with an 8-3 run. Jarvis scored five of the points with Christina Mitrow draining a 3-pointer that gave the Herons a 21-17 lead.
Points were hard to come by for both teams in the second quarter, but Hamilton was able to carry a 29-27 lead into halftime by outscoring William Smith 12-6. Zarle put her team in front at the break thanks to a 3-pointer with under two minutes to play.
Zarle led all scorers at the intermission with 12 points. Jarvis paced the Herons with 11 points.
Early in the second half, Parisi converted a layup to trim the Continentals’ lead to 34-31, but over the next eight minutes, spanning the third and fourth quarters, Hamilton outscored William Smith 21-6. Zarle and Mercado Rengel led the surge with seven and five points, respectively. The run gave the Continentals their largest lead of the game, 55-37. During the same time frame, the Herons went just 1-of-11 from the floor. William Smith (2-6) trailed by double digits the rest of the way.
The Herons were scheduled to play at SUNY Geneseo on Monday, Jan. 3, but that game has been postponed until Feb. 8. William Smith will return to the court at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7 at RIT.
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