Last Tuesday, the women’s team took on Vassar in what would prove to be a close contest.

The Red Hawks jumped out to an early lead, and maintained it much of the way. As the clock wound down, the Brewers did make one last run, getting within a few points. But the Red Hawks responded, as they have all season, by taking control of the game and connecting on their free throws.

When the final horn sounded, the Red Hawks defeated the Brewers by a score of 55-45.

With this win under their belt, the team prepared themselves to face the team that defeated them last, the Dutchwomen of Union.

This game was over just about as soon as it started. The Red Hawks took the court with the look of determination in their eyes, wanting to avenge what they viewed as a fluke loss to the Dutchwomen in their previous meeting.

All of these things came to pass as the Red Hawks swarmed all over the court in building a 19-4 advantage. During this run, the Red Hawks connected on eight of their first nine shots.

While Union did manage to make a second half run to cut the lead to 7, the Red Hawks and their defense were never really threatened. The Red Hawks unrelenting "40 minutes of hell" styled defense took its toll on the Dutchwomen in the first moments of the game and continued to drive the Red Hawks for the duration.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Red Hawks had their vengance, with a 61-46 win that extended the team’s winning streak to eight.

Forward Melissa Coppola led the way with 19 points and 11 boards. Forward Kristen Campbell added 12 points and eight boards. Forward Shannon Pratt netted 8 points.

Prior to the game on Saturday, the Red Hawks honored seniors Campbell, Pratt, and Kate Shulten and their parents.

Again the Red Hawks had an agenda. They needed the win to secure a share of the regular season UCAA championship.

Skidmore proved to be a pesky team, but they were simply outclassed by the Red Hawks. In the end, Rensselaer prevailed 68-55.

Pratt played aggressively on offense, netting 14 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. Campbell turned in another strong game with 10 points, while Coppola had 9 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie Guard Kristin Kaczynski, who was the UCAA Rookie of the Week for each of the two weeks prior, had 8, while Forward Caitlin Vestal, this week’s UCAA Rookie of the Week, also had 8.

The win upped the Red Hawks record to 20-4, putting them on the verge of breaking the school record for wins, which is 21, set by the 1997-98 team. The team also tied for the UCAA regular season title, which is a first. The only down side is that the team lost the opportunity to host the semi finals and finals of the league tournament to St. Lawrence by virtue of tiebreakers.

The Red Hawks are now tied for the most wins in school history, and if things go as planned the team will be headed to the North Country this weekend to play Union in the semifinals and then the winner of St. Lawrence and William Smith on Saturday. No matter what the outcome of this weekend, the Red Hawks are a virtual lock for a postseason bid in the NYSWAA tournament and possibly even an NCAA bid. The latter is not likely given the new system of at-large bids. This means that to advance to the NCAA, which is the team’s goal, the Red Hawks must win the UCAA tourney.

That mission started last night when the Red Hawks took on the Golden Knights of Clarkson in a UCAA quarterfinal match.

The Red Hawks came out a little slower than they did this past weekend and Clarkson played like a team with nothing to lose and everything to gain. In this respect, the Golden Knights played solid defense and grabbed a good number of rebounds on the offensive end. On top of that, Coppola was sidelined for a good portion of the contest with an injury.

Fortunately for the Red Hawks, Clarkson was unable to convert many of these putbacks.

Additionally, Rensselaer had too many offensive weapons and was always able to come up with a basket when they needed it. Another factor that aided the Red Hawks was the large number of fans that turned out to cheer on the home team.

The Red Hawks defense was still strong, as they limited Clarkson’s Linda Bondello, the UCAA’s leading scorer at 16.8 point per game, to just 5. But the Golden Knights did manage to stay within 10 points of the Red Hawks throughout the contest.

In the end, despite injuries and an opponent that hustled and played with a lot of heart, the Red Hawks simply proved how strong a team they are as they won 64-51, ending Clarkson’s season.

Campbell led the way with 14 on six for eight shooting, while Neiweem hit for 13. Kaczynski added 7.