December 1, 2001

GENEVA, N.Y.--The William Smith College basketball team rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat Mount St. Mary's College 62-55. Senior center Leah Cornwell (Wheatland-Chili/Caledonia,N.Y.) posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and three other Herons reached double digits in scoring.

After William Smith scored the first basket of the contest, the Knights' aggressive play took over the first half. A jumper from senior guard Jeanne Vinchiarello (Our Lady of Lourdes/Dover Plains, N.Y.) cut MSMC's lead to 10-9, but the Herons were held without a field goal in the next 6:41 as the Knights went on a 14-5 run. MSMC's lead ballooned to 31-18 with a basket from sophomore forward Tonya Thompson (Malverne/Rye, N.Y.) at the 5:04 mark. The Herons climbed back into the game with a 9-4 run and trailed 35-27 at the half.

William Smith opened the second 20 minutes with a 7-4 run and trailed by 36-34 with 15:48 to go. The teams traded buckets over the next six minutes until a layup from sophomore forward Heather Easter (North Carroll/Hampstead, Md.) gave the Herons a 46-45 lead at with just over nine minutes remaining, starting an 8-0 run. William Smith never trailed again. A layup from junior forward Laura Hadwin (Vestal/Vestal, N.Y.) gave the Herons their biggest lead of the day at 57-50, but the Knights cut the lead to two with just 1:09 left. William Smith scored the last five points of the game for the 62-55 victory.

Hadwin finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Herons, while Vinchiarello and Easter chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Thompson posted a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead MSMC. First-year guard Oneisha Staples contributed 11 points and seven rebounds for the Knights (3-2). MSMC controlled the boards with a 42-33 advantage.

William Smith (5-0) begins a four-game road trip at Ithaca on Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. Last season, the Herons defeated the Bombers 66-55 in Geneva.

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