Women's Basketball

The women’s basketball team traveled up North for a pair of games this past weekend. They came back successful with a sweep. On Friday in Canton, N.Y., the Red Hawks beat the St. Lawrence Saints 53-44. The win boosted RPI to .500 with a 7-7 overall record, and improved their Liberty League record to 2-2. The loss was the Saints’ second of the season as they dropped to 13-2, 3-1 in the league.

The game saw the score stay close with a tie game becoming a common occurrence. The final tie was at 44-44 with just 3:05 to play when the Red Hawks scored the game’s last nine points to pull ahead with a convincing win. Junior forward Elizabeth Barker, who scored five of those last points, had a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. RPI shot 44.7 percent (21 of 47) from the floor and held St. Lawrence to a paltry 27.6 percent.

The next day, the Red Hawks carried their momentum to beat Clarkson 61-52 in an afternoon showing. RPI improved to 8-7 overall, 3-2 in the league with the win.

An uneven first half had RPI heading out to an early 10-2 lead only to have the Golden Knights tie things up with eight straight points minutes later. By the half, RPI prevailed and was up 28-16. The second half was kind to the Red Hawks as they always led by at least seven and went up by 14 at one point. Senior guard Missy Jackman finished with 14 points and four assists, while classmate Tory Lyons had 12 points and seven rebounds.

The women host Skidmore and Union Colleges for a pair of games this weekend starting Friday at 6 pm against the Thoroughbreds, and continuing on at 2 pm on Saturday against the Dutchwomen.

Men's Basketball

The men’s basketball team also traveled to the North Country for a pair of games against Clarkson University and St. Lawrence University. On Friday night, the team lost to St. Lawrence 77-51, and then on Saturday afternoon they played Clarkson close in a 66-61 loss. The pair of losses dropped the team to 6-10 overall, and 1-4 in the league as it now rides a four-game losing streak.

In the first half of Friday’s game, RPI was only down by three before the home-standing Saints ran away with the game. Early in the second half, the Saints pulled ahead by 17 points in a lead they never lost. Heading the league, SLU improved to a league-best 9-6 overall, 4-0 in the conference with the win.

Senior Sam Simmons led RPI with 21 points and eight rebounds. Classmate Henrik Schou also had 11 points and as many rebounds.

The next afternoon, the men traveled to just south of the Canadian border for a game in Potsdam, N.Y. The Golden Knights’ victory improved them to 6-10 overall, 4-1 and second place in the league.

Despite running up an 11-3 lead just three minutes into the game, and pushing it to a 23-12 lead during the middle of the first half, RPI was unable to hold its ground defensively and headed into the locker room tied 29-29 at the half. The Red Hawks were helped out by Schou’s early baskets, and Simmons’ 14 first half points. The teams stayed close throughout the second period as Clarkson took an eight-point lead only to have RPI tie it back up at 51-51. In the end, free throws and rebounds let the Golden Knights sneak away with the victory.

The League named Simmons the men’s Forward of the Week for his two performances this past weekend.

The Engineers await next weekend when they’ll try to avenge the losses as they host the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds on Friday and the Union College Dutchmen on Saturday.

Indoor Track & Field

The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams traveled south along the Hudson to West Point to compete at the Army Open. Although no team scoring was recorded, many individuals had successful weekends.

Senior Marion Albert led the women, winning the 500-meter run with a time of 1:20.51 and placed second in the 200-meter dash in a time of 27.07. She also helped the 4x400 relay team that took first with a time of 4:14.34. She was tabbed by the Liberty League as the women’s Performer of the Week for her efforts. Sophomore Rachel Guillot followed Albert in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:21.77 for the silver.

The men had senior Adedeji Akindele-Alo finish second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.65, while sophomore Kyle Barden took third in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:08.32. With a height of 4.40 meters, freshman Alex LeBlanc won the pole vault. The Liberty League named him their Rookie of the Week for the men.