Against Hamilton, the Continentals drew first blood and held on to a slim lead in the game’s early minutes, but RPI came back to tie the score soon after. The first half of play was characterized by that similar trend of Hamilton building a slight lead and the Red Hawks trimming it right back down.

Rensselaer’s largest deficit of the half was nine, near the 4:29 mark. However, despite the strong play of junior Pumla Sathula, who sparked the Continentals offense early and often, the Red Hawks were down just four at the break. Sophomore Whitney Coleman drained a three pointer with 18 seconds remaining in the half making the score 44-40, keeping the RPI women within striking distance.

Hamilton looked ready for business when play resumed, but the Red Hawks reclaimed the lead at the 16:15 mark, and went up 53-49 after an 11-0 run. Senior Destany Eagles provided the necessary lift, scoring seven points over that impressive run.

The Continentals tied the game up once more at the 11:59 mark, but eight straight points from the Rensselaer women would gave them the lead back. This time it was for good as they didn’t relinquish it for the remainder of the game, winning by a score of 78-69.

Eagles led the way for RPI with a team-high 23 points in addition to five rebounds and four steals. Coleman recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 boards, and classmate Elizabeth Barker nearly had one of her own with 10 and eight. Sathula was the high-scorer for Hamilton, as she too had 23 points on the night in conjunction with 11 rebounds.

On Saturday versus William Smith, the Herons took control after trailing for the first four minutes of play, and ended up leading for the majority of the first half. While the Red Hawks trailed by seven, they were able to go up by four to 33-29 on a pair of free throws by Coleman in the final minute of play, and recaptured the lead headed into the half.

In the second half RPI came out firing and was able to knock down a number of buckets, but only clung to a six -point advantage. At the 12:32 mark, however, William Smith tied the game at 42 before taking command for the rest of the game.

The Herons went up by as much as 10, but saw their lead almost slip away as regulation came to a close with the Red Hawks cutting their deficit to one. The game, though, was sealed on a pair of free throws, and the RPI effort fell just short.

Coleman was the game’s leading scorer netting 27 points while going 13-14 from the charity stripe. The sophomore also grabbed eight rebounds and had two assists. Senior Kristi Baranowski chipped in with six points and 13 boards.