POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (0-1) nearly erased a 23-point fourth quarter deficit, but St. Lawrence University (1-0) held on for a 68-60 win at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium on Tuesday. Junior guard Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) had a monster game for the Bears with a career-high 35 points. Sophomore guard Bella Barner (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) just missed a double-double with nine points and 10-rebounds.
 
It looked like it would be a long night for Potsdam as the Saints came out firing. SLU opened the contest with an 11-0 run. Hunter broke the streak with a jumper and Barner close the gap to 11-5 with a 3-pointer. The Saints kept the Bears at arm's length for the rest of the quarter, finishing with an 18-11 advantage. Hunter had six points in the opening 10 minutes and junior forward Alyson Crosby (Brier Hill, N.Y./Hammond) had the other bucket for the Bears. SLU sophomore guard Abby Doin (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) had five points in the quarter and capped it with three straight free throws after being fouled beyond the arc.
 
Potsdam raced back to within 20-18 with 7-2 run to start the second quarter. Hunter hit another jumper and a 3-pointer and freshman guard Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) scored the first points of her career. After a missed Saints three, Hunter charged down the court and launched a three of her own that would have put the Bears up. However, the shot didn't fall and Doin answered with a three to make it 23-18 at the 7:37 mark. Another Hunter-led attack finished by a Barner 3-pointer got the Bears within 27-24 with 6:04 left in the half. Two layups from sophomore forward Olivia Barringer (Voorheesville, N.Y./Clayton A. Bouton) extended the Saints lead to 31-24 at 2:59, but Barner again answered with a three. Bradford closed the half with a layup and the Bears trailed 35-29 at the half.

SLU appeared to run away with the contest in the third quarter outscoring the Bears 22-10. Senior forward Katie Frederick (Sunapee, N.H./Sunapee) had five points and Barringer and junior guard Sierra Sanson (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) had four each. Hunter and sophomore guard Caroline LaFountain (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) each had five in the quarter. Potsdam trailed 57-38 after 30 minutes.
 
The Saints scored the first five points of the fourth quarter for their biggest lead of the game at 62-39 with 8:38 to go. Potsdam made a final charge and outscored SLU 21-6 the rest of the way. It started with an 12-0 run. Hunter scored the first 10 and junior guard Madison McCormick (Heuvelton, N.Y./Heuvelton) finished with a layup to close within 63-52. With 1:50 to go, Hunter put up a layup as she was fouled. The ball stopped on the rim for what seemed like seconds before falling through the hoop as the crowd exploded. She then hit the following free throw and the Bears were down 66-60. Unfortunately, SLU added two free throws and closed out the eight-point win.
 
LaFountain finished with six points and eight rebounds. Barringer led the Saints with 12 points and eight boards. Frederick finished with a double-double of 10 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Junior guard Stella Davis (Dublin, N.H./Dublin School), Doin and Sanson all scored 10 points.
 
The Bears are back in action at the Plattsburgh Cardinal Classic on Friday at 7 p.m. when they take on Norwich University.