This past week women’s basketball looked to make a run at the UCAA Championship, facing off against cross town rival Union.
The Red Hawks needed to take an early lead in the game. A balanced attack for Rensselaer was needed to defeat the powerful Dutchwomen. The women jumped out to a quick lead and played evenly with Union until halftime. RPI led Union 29-28 at halftime and looked to hold on to their narrow lead.
The Red Hawks held even with Dutchwomen in the second half, until, with 1:16 remaining, Union went on a 7-0 run to put away RPI 74-67.
Union’s 46 points in the second half sent Rensselaer packing, despite RPI shooting over 10 percent better from the floor. Union’s Nicole Cerniglia dominated the boards, pulling down 13 rebounds.
Dutchwomen rookie Erika Eisenhut scored a game high 24 points, and Courtney Shephard and Kate DeSorrento each put up 11 points contributing to the Union College victory over RPI.
Kaitlyn Saunders and Kristin Kaczynski led the way in the losing effort for Rensselaer with 15 points each, and Caitlin Vestal and Jacqueline Ferrari each added 10. Two other Red Hawks found the net, and no RPI player pulled down over five boards.
Despite the tough loss, the Rensselaer women will still be going to the ECAC Tournament. The third seeded Red Hawks will take on sixth seed Nazareth on Wednesday at the Robinson Gym. Tip-off for the game is at 6 pm. The winner of the game will play in the semi-finals, hosted by the highest remaining seed in the tournament.
