TROY, NY -- Three players reached double figures, including an 18-point effort by senior guard Whitney Coleman to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a 65-61 victory over Union College in Liberty League women's basketball at Robison Gym on Friday.
RPI improves to 15-5 overall and 7-3 in conference play, while Union, the top team in the league standings, falls to 15-6 and suffers just its second loss in the Liberty League for a 9-2 record.
It was a historic night for Union's
Michelle Rogers. She made a layup with 7:37 left in the second half to record her 999th and 1,000th career points. She became the 10th player in Union College women's basketball history to record 1,000 career points and the first since Erika Eisenhut in the 2005-06 season. Rogers ended the night with 496 career rebounds, and she is on the verge of becoming the 12th Dutchwoman to post 500 career rebounds. Only six Union players have recorded 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
Rogers recorded a game-high 24 points with 11 of 16 shooting. She also had nine rebounds.
Maria Tobin added 14 points while senior
Rachel Scott had nine points, three assists and two steals.
After a back-and-forth first half, which saw both teams shoot 39.3% from the field, Union came in to the second stanza with momentum and a 29-27 lead. The Dutchwomen led by four before the Red Hawks battled back to tie things at 31-all with 18:48 remaining.
Rensselaer freshman Sarah Wetmore drained a three at 14:52 and added another bucket just under a minute later to give the homestanding Red Hawks a 41-37 lead with 13:32 remaining, but a six-point effort from Rogers put the Dutchwomen up 42-41 with 12 minutes on the clock. RPI once again regained the lead as Coleman and Wetmore combined for an 8-0 run and a 53-50 lead. Union pulled to within one on a
Lauren McCormick layup, but the Red Hawks caught fire, scoring the next nine points to grab a 62-52 lead with 2:11 remaining.
Unwilling to go quietly, Union once again mounted a comeback as Tobin sank one of her four three-pointers and McCormick and
Leah Pepe added buckets to make it 64-60 with 44 seconds left.
A subsequent foul on McCormick with 22 seconds on the clock led to an Elizabeth Barker free throw and a 65-61 lead to close out the scoring in the contest.
In addition to Coleman, who also had a game-high four assists and two steals, the Red Hawks saw Wetmore add 17 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Caitlyn Charest posted 10 points while Barker had a game-best 15 rebounds.
The Dutchwomen head to Vassar to take on the Brewers, also at 2 p.m.
Box score
