January 8, 2006

Foote scored a season-high 21 points as William Smith defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 62-54 this evening. (photo by Kevin Colton

CLAREMONT, CALIF.—William Smith junior guard Paula Foote (Sidney/Sidney, N.Y.) continued to have the hot hand as she scored a season-high 21 points to lift the Herons to a 62-54 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps this evening in the final game of the team's three-game West coast swing.

William Smith (6-3) and the Stags (9-2) played an even first half, with both teams converting on 11 field goals, but the Herons managed to pull ahead at the intermission, 28-26. Foote paced the William Smith offense, tossing in eight points in the opening stanza. Sophomore forward Stephanie Czajkowski (Bishop Ludden/Syracuse, N.Y.) registered all of her six points in the first frame.

Both teams continued the back-and-forth affair in the second half, but at the 5:17 mark and William Smith trailing by a point, Foote elevated her game, scoring 10 points down the stretch. Foote, who was a perfect 4-4 from the line, sank two free throws from the charity stripe to give the Herons a 58-52 advantage with just 26 seconds left in the contest.

First-year guard Latasha Coney (Lyons/Lyons, N.Y.) and senior forward Tanya Richvalsky (Mohawk/Mohawk, N.Y.) both reached double digits for William Smith. Coney scored 11 points, on 3 of 8 from the field, and pulled in a game-high eight rebounds, while Richvalsky added 10 points, on 5-9 from the floor.

The Herons shot 44.9 percent from the field, while limiting the Stags to just 34.5 percent. William Smith also won the battle on the glass, out rebounding Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 42-33.

William Smith returns to action at 6 p.m. on Jan. 13, when the Herons welcome conference rival Vassar to Bristol Gym.

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