Following a spectacular run throughout the regular season, the RPI women’s basketball team fell to the St. Lawrence University Saints in the Liberty League semifinals this past Saturday. With the 54-49 loss, the Red Hawks finish the year 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the Liberty League. The Saints, who also finished with an overall record of 18-7, will continue on to the championship game against Union College.
The Red Hawks opened the game strong with a basket by senior Kerry Hayes for the early 2-0 lead. It didn’t take long for the Saints to counter, however, as senior Lauren Sischo buried a three-pointer for St. Lawrence’s first lead of the day. After that play, the Saints never trailed in the game by more than a single point.
RPI came back to even the game out twice in the first half, as junior Amanda Brophy came off the bench and finished the day with a team-high 12 points. The game was 13-all when Brophy connected on a layup, and connected again to put the Red Hawks ahead 19-18 with 5:16 remaining in the opening half.
Senior Whitney Coleman once again put the Red Hawks ahead 27-26 with a basket in the second half, but was quickly answered by Saints senior Katie Palmer to take the lead. A three-pointer by rookie Casey Capello gave St. Lawrence its largest lead of the day of 11 points to bring the score to 38-27 with 14:42 remaining on the clock.
Both teams battled it out for the next nine minutes, which saw RPI cut the deficit to one with just over five minutes left in the game as senior Elizabeth Barker connected on two free-throw attempts. Palmer again increased the Saints’ lead with another three-point basket, ultimately leading to a six-point St. Lawrence advantage over RPI. The Red Hawks closed out the game with a six-point run to bring the score to 51-49, but that was as close as they would get before three free-throws by Sischo sealed the game for St. Lawrence.
Despite the loss, the end of the season also comes with some positive news for the program. Freshman Sarah Wetmore was tabbed the Liberty League Rookie of the Year, while Coleman and Barker were named to the Liberty League All-League First and Second teams, respectively.
Wetmore took home the Liberty League Rookie of the Week title six times this season for her striking play throughout the year. Starting in 23 of 24 games for the Red Hawks, Wetmore was second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, and netting at least 10 points in 18 games. In addition, she was first on the team and fourth in the league for steals with 52. Wetmore also posted 39 assists and seven blocks, earning an honorable mention for the All-League selection.
Leading the Red Hawks in several categories, Coleman was a unanimous selection for the First team. She took top marks in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game, 32.1 minutes per game, and a 44.8 percent shooting. In addition, Coleman placed second on the team in rebounding with 6.3 per game, assists with 62, and blocks with 10. Coleman led the team in scoring in 14 games, and netted three double-doubles throughout the season, good to secure her spot as 10th in school history in scoring, accumulating a total of 1,028 points.
Barker leads the league in rebounding with 11.0 per game, and is No. 1 on the team in blocks with 12. In addition, Barker averages 10.7 points per game and has been the team’s highest scorer in five games. She has also added eight double-doubles to the season. Currently, Barker is fourth in school history in career rebounds with 845 and 15th in points with 854. Earlier this season, she was named to the ESPN the Magazine All-District 1 Second Team.
Although the team will be losing several key seniors to graduation this year, the Red Hawks can look forward to several high-performing underclassmen to help lead the team in the upcoming season.
