The Red Hawks and Dutchwomen were very evenly matched throughout the first half, with both teams making 12 shots from the floor. RPI went to the locker room with a narrow two-point lead.

Union outshot Rensselaer in the second half, making 14 of 40 field goals versus the Red Hawks’ 9-for-33 effort. RPI remained in the game on free throws, knocking down 18 of 23 in the half.

The Dutchwomen led by five with three minutes to play, but back-to-back three-point plays by Kristin Kaczynski and Jackie Ferrari followed by a Union foul shot left the match tied at 58 with 90 seconds remaining.

Co-Captain Holly Neiweem stepped up at that point, hitting her first field goal of the game to put RPI ahead and following that up with outstanding free throw shooting to ice the game.

Kaczynski, the Red Hawks’ leading scorer, netted a game-high 19 points. Neiweem added 11 and went nine-for-nine from the foul line, and Co-Captain Jo Alexander had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Skidmore game wasn’t nearly as close, as RPI had it mostly wrapped up after the first half. The Red Hawk defense completely stifled the Thoroughbreds, holding them to 8-for-20 from the floor, and the offense poured it on, exploding for 47 points on nearly 60 percent shooting.

Rensselaer had a severe letdown in the second half, sinking to under 30 percent field-goal shooting and even worse from the foul line. Skidmore, however, matched RPI’s poor performance, outscoring the Red Hawks by only two points in the half and falling by a 68-41 final score.

Kaczynski led all scorers again with 14 points and was named the UCAA Guard of the Week. Caitlin Vestal contributed 13 points, and Karen Wood added 10 more.