TROY, NY – Junior Genevieve Schoff (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) dropped a game-high 25 points for Sage, but it wasn't enough as the Engineers of Rensselaer topped the Gators 65-53.
Sage (2-2) was up on RPI 46-44 going into the fourth quarter. However, Rensselaer's (3-1) Elizabeth Eckhardt and Lakissa Martin led the way with four points and a rebound apiece to propel the Engineer's 21 point, nine board final quarter. RPI scored 39 bench points while Sage had 18 points off turnovers.
In addition to Schoff's 25 points, the captain recorded a team-high six rebounds. Teagan Clough (Watervliet, NY/Watervliet) matched Schoff's six boards, and Macie Holmes (Amsterdam, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy) chipped in 10 points on two treys.
RPI's Sam Krumbhaar led the Engineers with 17 points and five steals off the bench. Shaina Iton recorded a game-high six boards with eight points while Lauren Young dished out six assists with seven points.
RPI started off the game with a 12-3 in the first three and half minutes, but Sage bounced within five with three-pointers from Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) and Emily Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fulton).
Sage came back 17-15 two minutes into the second quarter to off a trey from Holmes. After back-and-forth, RPI went on a 7-0 in the last two minutes with five points from Krumbhaar.
Holmes opened the second half with her second trey of the game followed by five straight points from Schoff to make the score 20-31 just a minute and half in the quarter. Schoff continued to dominate with another five straight points to give the Gators their first lead of the game, 35-33. After three lead changes over the next four minutes, Schoff had a clutch and-one play in the last five seconds of the quarter to put the Gators up 46-44.
The Engineers started off the fourth quarter with six straight points in the first two minutes. Parslow responded with a layup to make the score 50-48 in favor of RPI, but the Gator's couldn't hold off the Engineers' 15-8 run to lock-in the non-conference battle.
The Gators continue their non-conference schedule next week at Skidmore on Mon. Nov., 28 with tipoff at 8 p.m.
