SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - On the strength of a good first quarter and a good fourth quarter, the Union College women's basketball team fought off Bard College, 63-45, in a Liberty League game on Friday night.

Bard scored the first five points of the game, but Union scored the next 20. It was 20-8 after one quarter.

But after making four three-pointers in the first 10 minutes, the Union shooters cooled off, while Bard heated up, especially at the foul line. A 16-6 run brought the Raptors back, and the guests eventually cut that 15-point lead down to five, 26-21, midway through the second quarter. Bard made 10-of-11 from the free throw line in the first half (9-for-9 in the second quarter), but Union still led, 37-25, at halftime.

The Raptors refused to go away, starting the third quarter with a 7-0 run to cut the lead back to five, 37-32, prompting a Union time out. Marissa Munsell scored all six of her points in the third quarter, and Bard trailed, 46-40, entering the fourth quarter.

This time it was Bard that went cold, as Union outscored the Raptors 17-5 in the fourth quarter to improve to 5-7 overall, 2-4 in conference play. Bard fell to 5-8, 0-6.

Union had three players scored 14 points, led by Laura Vinton (Rutland, MA) who had added nine rebounds. Elly Vaughan (Milton, MA) had 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Megan Lee (Neenah, WI) finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Bard got 16 points and six rebounds from Christina Kiser. Jess Rylander added seven points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Up next for Bard is a Liberty League game at RIT on Saturday afternoon. Follow it live right here.