TROY, N.Y.Senior point guard Taryn Scinto connected on five of her six free throw attempts over the final 3:37 and came away with a game-high 16 points allowing Union to hold off a couple of strong Rensselaer comeback attempts in the second half as the Dutchwomen won their first-ever Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season championship by defeating the Red Hawks, 67-63, at Robison Gym.

The win leaves the Garnet with a 13-1 conference record and an overall mark of 21-3. More importantly, Union will host the conference"s championship tournament this Friday and Saturday in Memorial Fieldhouse. Two-year defending champion St. Lawrence (11-3 and 20-5) will be the No. 2 seed with Rensselaer (11-3 // 19-5) third, and William Smith (8-6 // 13-11) fourth. The winner of the event will represent the UCAA in the NCAA tournament.

"This is a huge victory for this team, for these players and for this program," said head coach Mary Ellen Burt, who last year led the Dutchwomen to a 22-5 record and a second place finish in both the regular-season (the Garnet was 11-3) and the tournament. "The team played well throughout the year and came up with a big effort against a very good Rensselaer team. I could not be prouder of these women."

Union connected on 13 of its 32 field goal attempts (40.6%) to take a 37-22 lead into the half then withstood an Rensselaer comeback bid that saw the Red Hawks score 20 of the game"s 26 points over the first 9:05 of the second half to pull within one, 43-42, with 10:55 left to play. Then, up by nine, 63-54, with 1:55 remaining, the Dutchwomen again withstood the Hawks" rally as Rensselaer came back to within 66-63 with seven seconds left on a long three-point basket by Kristin Kaczynski that hit nothing but net. However Scinto, who had hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to give Union a 66-60 lead with 29 seconds showing, connected on her first charity shot making it a two possession game with six seconds left. Union"s defense did not allow another shot.

Caitlin Vestal sparked the early second-half charge by the Red Hawks as she scored six consecutive points during a 13-5 run that cut the Dutchwomen"s advantage to seven, 42-35, with 14:28 left in the game. Vestal"s layup with 14:28 left brought the Hawks" back to within 42-33 before Kelly Choppy scored for the hosts.

Union went back up by eight, on one of two free throws by Scinto before Rensselaer resumed its march by scoring the game"s next seven points to pull to within one, 43-42, with 10:55 left. Vestal scored the first three points on a layup and foul shot before Alyssa Comis tallied off a driving layup and Jackie Ferrari followed with a jumper to complete Rensselaer"s 20-6 run during the first 9:05.

A basket by freshman forward Krysal Hammond, a fall away jumper by Scinto and a jumper by sophomore forward Courtney Shepard gave Union some breathing room, 49-42, with 6:49. After Ferrari"s basketball and foul shot brought Rensselaer back to within four, 49-45 at 6:02, Union scored seven of the game"s next nine points to go up 56-47 with 4:21 left.

Junior Kate DeSorrento started thngs off with a driving layup before Shepard knocked down a pair of free throws. Hammond then scored of an offensive rebound and followed that up with a free throw to increase Union"s margin to nine. Scinto then began a free throw show that saw the Dutchwomen connect on nine of their 16 attempts. In fact, only two other points, a layup by Shepard that gave Union the 63-54 lead with 1:55 showing, came from the charity stripe. Rensselaer, meanwhile, tallied 14 points from the field while scoring just one two from the line in the final 4:03.