Box Score
Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – Senior center Sydney Fasulo (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Country Day School) posted 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to lead Hamilton College to a 54-50 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Liberty League action on Friday at Robison Gym. The Continentals move to 11-7 on the season and 4-4 in the conference, while the Red Hawks drop to 13-5 overall and 5-3 in Liberty League play.

Holding a 33-19 lead at the end of the first half, Hamilton continued to press in the second half, maintaining a double digit lead throughout the first seven minutes of the second stanza. Sophomore Allison Connor (Hudson, NY/Hudson) helped the homestanding Red Hawks close the gap at 12:26 as she nailed a shot from beyond the arc to pull RPI to within 11 (36-25).

A follow-up jumper by Sarah Wetmore (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln Sudbury Regional) began a 7-0 run for Rensselaer with 9:35 left in the contest, but the Continentals pulled ahead once more on a three-pointer by Alex Sowinski (Hopkinton, RI/Tabor Academy).

Fasulo made a layup at 1:14 to give Hamilton a 52-42 lead, but Rensselaer began to mount a comeback, as senior Whitney Coleman (Rancho Cucamonga, CA/Etiwanda) drained a pair of free throws and classmate Elizabeth Barker (Suffield, CT/Cathedral) scored the next three points to make it a five-point Continentals advantage with 21 seconds remaining, but RPI could not close the gap.

The game opened with a back and forth battle as the visiting Continentals quickly took control at 10:52 of the opening half on a bucket by Sowinski for a 14-10 lead.

Solid defense by the visitors continued to plague the Red Hawks from then on as Hamilton capitalized on a number of RPI turnovers. Fasulo, who led all first half scorers with 12 points, drained back-to-back buckets for an 18-10 lead with 8:09 remaining.

Wetmore pulled the homestanding Red Hawks to within six (22-16) with 5:09 left, but a long three-pointer by senior Molly Kane (Sherrill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) seconds later pulled Hamilton back to a nine-point advantage.

The Continentals, who shot 66.7% from the field in the opening half, proceeded on an 11-0 run before RPI's Connor nailed a shot from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 33-19 with 1:52 remaining. That was as close as it would get as both squads had trouble finding the net in the closing seconds of the half.

In addition to Fasulo, who also had four assists and a steal, Hamilton saw Sarah Schrader (Rangeley, ME/Rangeley Lakes Regional) post 10 points and three steals.

For Rensselaer, Barker led all scorers with a double double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. She also had a block and was 6 of 8 from the free throw line. Wetmore posted nine points and two steals while Coleman and senior Caitlyn Charest (Swansea, MA/LaSalle Academy) each had eight points.

RPI returns to the court tomorrow afternoon when it hosts William Smith at 2pm. Hamilton heads to Poughkeepsie to face Vassar, also at 2pm.