The RPI women’s basketball team faced a jam-packed week with contests on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. On Tuesday, the Red Hawks traveled to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to tip off against the Vassar College Brewers, followed by two home games against the St. Lawrence University Saints on Friday and the Clarkson University Golden Knights on Saturday. The Red Hawks went 2-1 during the week, prevailing against the Brewers and Golden Knights, but falling to the Saints in overtime.
In their first game, the Red Hawks were without their leading scorer, senior guard Whitney Coleman. However, strong play by the remainder of the team kept them in the game. Senior Elizabeth Barker had a fantastic evening, scoring a game-high 25 points to lead the Red Hawks to a 72-53 win against the Brewers—it was also Barker’s best game this season, with two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. In addition, freshman Sarah Wetmore and senior Caitlyn Charest had 16 and 12 points, respectively, in the game. “We played as a team and won as a team,” said freshman Laura Easterling. With the win over Vassar, the Red Hawks won their sixth straight game to improve to 11-2 for the season and 3-0 in the league.
Coming off a win on the road, the women’s basketball team had their first home league game against St. Lawrence. The game went anything but according to plan. Although Wetmore tallied a game-high 22 points and Barker added a double-double with 12 points and 17 rebounds, RPI fell in overtime 73-67. The first half was picture perfect, as RPI led the game by 14 points, but after several runs by the Saints, the women eventually lost in the first round of overtime. “In the second half our team was not united. We played as individuals,” said Easterling. The Saints moved up to 10-4 on the season and 3-1 in the league, stopping RPI’s winning streak at six as they fell to 11-3 and 3-1 in the conference.
The next day, after being dealt their first home loss of the season, the Red Hawks were determined to win. Rensselaer had three players score double digits and played a solid defense. Wetmore once again scored a game-high 22 points, while Coleman and Charest had 19 and 10 points, respectively. In addition, Coleman had a game-high six assists to complement her 19 points, and Barker had eight points and 14 rebounds. Leading 35-25 at the break, RPI continued to hold the lead by more than seven points throughout the second half. When time expired, RPI had its 12th win of the season, moving up to 12-3 for the season and 4-1 in the Liberty League. Clarkson, on the other hand, fell to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in league play. Clarkson junior Michelle Reddinger led the team with 14 points and six rebounds. Sophomores Lauren Pluchino and Katie Goldberg had 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the loss.
RPI, now in a tie for first place in the Liberty League, travels to Skidmore College this Friday at 6 pm, and to Union College on Saturday with the tip-off beginning at 2 pm. With a win, the women’s basketball team could move to first place in the league and restart its winning streak that ended at six.
Following the weekend’s contests, two Red Hawks were recognized by the Liberty League for their outstanding performances. Coleman was tabbed Guard of the Week for the fourth time this season, while Wetmore was named Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row and fourth time this year. Coleman has started in 14 of the Red Hawks’ 15 games and leads the team in a number of categories including points (17.6), minutes (31.3), field goal percentage (46.7), free throw percentage (80.0), three-point shooting (33.3 percent), and blocked shots (7). Wetmore is the second leading scorer for RPI, averaging 14.9 points per game. She is third on the team in average minutes per game (28.0) and second in three-point shooting (27.3 percent). She has also recorded 29 assists, three blocks, and a team-high 33 steals. Last week, Wetmore averaged a team-best 19.3 points per game to go along with her 6.0 rebounds per contest.
