HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Russell Sage College saw its three-game winning streak come to a close with a 72-49 Empire 8 Conference setback at Houghton this afternoon.

Junior guard Layla Acosta (Haines City, FL/Haines City) led the Gators with 12 points. Senior guard Malena Gereau (Schroon Lake, NY/Schroon Lake Central), sophomore forward Danielle Waldron (Cayuga, NY/Union Springs) and freshman guard Riley Sitcer (Coxsackie, NY/Coxsackie-Athens) contributed eight points apiece.

Sophomore forward Kallie Hopkins (Millsboro, DE/Polytech grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while Acosta passed out threee assists.

Houghton (13-6/4-6 E8), which commenced the weekend as the top defense in the E8, closed the second period on a 13-2 run to take control of the Saturday matinee.

Sophomore forward Tabitha DeVries paced the Highlanders, now 8-2 at home, with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds.

RSC (6-13/5-6 E8) plays next on Monday at Fitchburg State. The final non-conference game of the regular season is set to begin at 6:00 PM.

Gator Bites with Papa John's: The season marks the first with Michael Branche as the Head Coach of RSC Women's Basketball…He had been an assistant women's basketball coach since July 2020…12 players, making up just shy of 94 percent of the team scoring returned for the Gators…The dozen combine with five newcomers on this year's squad…Acosta, junior forward Aniyah Kelley (New Castle, DE/William Penn), and senior guard Lauren Sanderson (Ravena, NY/Ravena-Coyemans-Selkirk) headline the returning Gators…Acosta, who tops the Gators in scoring, began the week leading the Empire 8 Conference in free throw percentage…As of Monday, RSC was the only program in the Conference with three of the top-14 foul shooters…Senior guard Olivia Huneau (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes), Sanderson, and Gereau were voted captains of the team...Gereau averaged 16.3 points on 35.7 percent shooting, and 10.7 rebounds across the past three games...She totaled six assists, three steals, and two blocks in the 2-1 week.