It has been a six-year odyssey for women’s basketball Head Coach Kim Rybczyk. In 1995, she arrived at Rensselaer and found herself leading a young team that managed only six victories. The following year things improved as the team won 13 games. Then the team broke out.
The ’97-’98 club won 21 games to set a school record, but they didn’t earn an NCAA berth. The following year the club won 20 and just missed winning the conference. Last year the team had some injury problems and managed only 15 wins.
This season the team has made the move Rybczyk hoped they would. The team has gone from one of the top three in the UCAA to the team to beat. The true demonstration of that came in last week’s UCAA tournament.
While the Red Hawks were seeded No. 2, they would have a difficult road. They would have to defeat Union and nationally ranked St. Lawrence, the two teams that accounted for RPI’s only UCAA losses.
So, following last Tuesday’s win over Clarkson, the women’s basketball team prepared to make the long trip to St. Lawrence to play in the UCAA conference semi-finals. The winner of the tournament would secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The road to success got even more difficult when the team learned that they would be without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Melissa Coppola who suffered a concussion against Clarkson. Additionally, the Red Hawks had to squeeze themselves into a Rensselaer mini-bus to make the four-hour journey to the North Country.
With all of this occurring in the background, the Red Hawks took the court against Union at 1 pm Friday.
The game didn’t start well for the Red Hawks, who clearly missed the services of Coppola. The Dutchwomen, sensing the opportunity for an upset, jumped out to a 6-point lead at the half, 35-29.
In the second half Rensselaer recovered and—as they have so often in the past—showed the mental toughness that has carried them through this record-setting campaign. This led to a 62-58 victory.
Forward Caitlin Vestal led the scoring with 11 points. Guard Holly Nieweem netted 10 while Forward Jo Alexander helped to fill in for Coppola by putting up 10 points. Co-Captain Kate Schulten dominated the boards by collecting 13 rebounds and Forward Kristen Campbell had 9 points and seven rebounds.
After this win, the Red Hawks moved on to face the 12th-ranked St. Lawrence. The Saints had already received their wake-up call when they had trouble beating William Smith the day before.
Nonetheless, Rensselaer jumped right on them and took an early lead. But the Saints didn’t appear worried, maintaining their own confident swagger.
The Red Hawks kept the lead for most of the first half, but with a little over a minute showing on the clock, the Saints validated their cocky manner as they pulled ahead. Lauren Foran completed a 3-point play to give the Saints their first lead since the early minutes of the game. St. Lawrence then made a defensive stop and Jen Janeway connected on a 3-pointer that gave the Saints a 33-29 lead at the half.
The second half seemed to pick up where the first one left off, with the Saints jumping out to a 44-35 lead in the first five minutes. The lead left many of the spectators wondering if the Red Hawks had run out of steam and were out of their league.
But not the players. Despite the fact that the Saints’ lead swelled to as many as 15, the Red Hawks kept attacking. Suddenly, at the midpoint of the half, the team went on a 13-0 run that cut the SLU lead to 55-53.
The Saints’ Megan Dietrichsen scored a layup to stop the run and make it 57-53, SLU. But Guard Karen Wood would answer with two free throws that would be the start of another Red Hawk run that made the score 61-57.
Then the Saints rallied with two free throws, a layup, and another free throw to go up 62-61. Campbell then hit two free throws to put Rensselaer back up 63-62. SLU’s Foran came up with a big play as she hit a lay-up to make it 64-63 with 1:07 left.
After each team turned the ball over, Wood stepped up to score a layup and two free throws after forcing an SLU turnover. The Red Hawks now had a 67-64 lead, forcing the Saints to call a timeout. On the inbounds play, the Saints turned the ball over. Nieweem recovered it and hit both of her free throws to ice the game.
As the final horn sounded, the Red Hawks bench exploded onto the court. The entire group jumped up and down in a mass huddle before they finally returned to the bench for the official ceremony.
The team’s captains, Schulten and Coppola, accepted the championship plaque and brought it back to the bench for further celebration took place.
Perhaps the most telling sight were the tears of joy that rolled down Rybczyk’s face. After starting with only six wins, her teams worked hard, overcame obstacles, and finally made the big dance. The hard work of the team paid off and put them at the top.
Following the team presentation, Wood was named the tournament MVP while Nieweem and Campbell made the All-Tournament team.
On Sunday, the team learned that they would play Mount St. Mary’s—a team that they previously defeated this season—in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game will be tonight in the Armory at 7 pm. If the Red Hawks win, they will advance to take on NYU this weekend.
