First up for the Red Hawks was Randolph Macon College on December 28. RPI grabbed the lead from the Yellow Jackets at the 15:13 mark in the first half, and held on to it for some time. It seemed that Head Coach John Greene and company had everything in control. However, midway through the second half, Randolph Macon began a 7-0 run that would give them their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

The Yellow Jackets went up by as much as 11, but the Rensselaer women mounted a comeback and clipped the deficit to just one point with 22 seconds remaining on the game clock. That, though, was as close as RPI would get, ultimately losing by a score of 70-68. Junior Tory Lyons led the Red Hawk attack, scoring a game high of 15 points, in addition to six rebounds. Senior Destany Eagles tallied 14 points and four steals. Lindsay Reisback scored 15 for Randolph Macon.

Rensselaer was back to work the next day in their second game of the Surf City Classic in a match-up with Babson College. The lead wavered back and forth in the first half early on, but RPI was able to secure a lead midway through the half. The Red Hawks went up by as many as 14, but saw that lead trimmed in half, 28-21, as both teams headed into the break.

When play resumed, the lead would change, and the score would be tied on three different occasions before Rensselaer grabbed the advantage for good. Strong defense was the catalyst for the Red Hawks in the second half as they forced 31 turnovers and had 20 steals on their way to a 55-42 victory. Sophomore Whitney Coleman had a strong game with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Senior Kristi Baranowski had a double-double with ten points and ten boards. Caitlin Boulier was the Beavers’ leading scorer with 14.

RPI played its third consecutive game of the tournament on December 30, this time battling Delaware Valley. The first half of play was evenly matched, though RPI held the lead for the majority of the half. Heading into halftime, the Red Hawks were up by eight points.

In the second half, Rensselaer saw their lead grow to 14 before the Aggies slowly began to chip away at the margin. Delaware Valley tied the game up 58-58 at the 3:52 mark, but RPI would never fall behind, regaining the lead shortly after and ceasing to relinquish it for the remainder of the game. The Red Hawks won by a score of 68-63.

Coleman led the way scoring 18 points while Baranowski collected her second straight double-double with 13 points and 12 boards. Sophomore Liz Barker added 11 points and nine rebounds.

Next for the Rensselaer women was Keene State College. The combination of poor shooting from the Owls and good defense from RPI gave the Red Hawks a 15 point lead after the first half. When play resumed, it was more of the same, as RPI continuously kept the stranglehold on the Owls on its way to an impressive 56-43 win. Notable performances include that of Eagles, who had 14 points and five rebounds, and Baranowski, who tallied seven points and 11 boards.

Rensselaer had one more game on the road against Middlebury College before the team could return home to Robison Gym. The Red Hawks came out strong and capitalized on poor shooting by the Panthers in the early going, who shot 2-19 from the field, as RPI took a 14-5 lead. Middlebury, though, scored seven straight buckets to close out the half, narrowing their deficit to 23-18 as both teams headed into the break.

In the second half the Red Hawks again jumped out to a strong lead as they were up by ten, however, the Panthers rallied an 8-0 run which tied the game at 38 with ten minutes remaining in the contest.

While the game remained close in the closing minutes, it came down to free throws, and it was RPI who proceeded to go seven of eight from the stripe and seal the deal for a 60-52 victory. Coleman led the Red Hawks in scoring again with a game high of 18 points while Barker chipped in with eight of her own. Lani Young led the way for Middlebury with 14 points and seven boards.

The Red Hawks wrapped up their winter stretch with two games at home on consecutive days versus Union College and Skidmore College on January 12th and 13th.

Against the Dutchwomen, while the score was tied at 32 going into halftime there was a great deal of first half action. In the opening minutes, both teams came out firing as play was very even for that stretch. Union made the first charge with just under 14 minutes left on the clock and went up by nine at one point, thanks in part to eight points from sophomore Rachel Ornsby. The Red Hawks though fought their way back to tie the game, and even grab a lead of their own. However at the break, both teams prepared to start over as the game was again tied.

Rensselaer came out strong and dominated early in the second half. The Dutchwomen came as close as six, but RPI held strong and closed out the game for a 67-55 win with Coleman scoring the Red Hawks final eight points, she had 15 on the day. Baranowkski had 12 and 12.

RPI’s final game of the break was with Skidmore. This time it was Rensselaer who fell behind early, but the Red Hawks would regain the lead midway through the period, and would remain up by eight at halftime, 34-26.

In the second half the Thoroughbreds came out with passion and cut the RPI lead to four. However, the Red Hawks quickly got things turned around and ultimately took the game by 15 points, 66-51. Baranowski had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Coleman had 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Barker and Lyons each contributed significantly scoring 11 and 12 respectively.