Box Score Box Score

AMHERST, MA – Two NCAA Tournament teams from one year ago met on the campus of Amherst College in the Third Annual Tip-Off Tournament this afternoon as Colby College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute played one another. Colby improved to 2-0 on the year by a score of 54-48, as the Mules held off a comeback bid by RPI (1-2) late.

The Engineers started the game slowly, missing their first seven shots of the day to fall behind 8-0 by the 15:46 mark of the first half. Colby's lead grew as large as 13-0 before RPI senior Linda Larsen (Kobenhavn, Denmark) finally put the Engineers on the board with 12:23 to play in the first stanza.

Colby's lead shrank to seven points as the Mules failed to score for over three minutes through the middle of the half. Colby responded with three baskets in a one minute span, pushing its lead back to 21-11 on a jumper by Kelly Potvin (Sherborn, MA) at the 4:44 mark.

The Mules led 27-17 at the break, but RPI started the second half on a 13-6 run to close the gap to just three points. A pair of free throws by RPI's Sarah Wetmore (Sudbury, MA) cut the deficit to 37-34 with 10:33 to play in the second frame. On either side of the nine minute mark, RPI got back-to-back layups from Hillary McKinley (Quinebaug, CT) and Wetmore to put the Engineers up 40-37. The McKinley score with 9:36 to play gave RPI its first lead of the game.

Colby's Julianne Kowalski (Montville) and RPI's Nicole Monroe (Syracuse, NY) traded scores to leave the Engineers up 44-43. After a three by Diana Manduca (Portland, ME) put Colby on top 50-48 with 1:32 showing on the clock, Aarika Ritchie (Lee, ME) drew a charge on the defensive end. RPI trailed 52-48 after a pair of Julianne Kowalski (Montville, NJ) free throws fell with :54 seconds to play.

Despite Colby missing a handful of free throws down the stretch, RPI's comeback effort came up just short as the Mules held on for the 54-48 win. Colby was led offensively by 16 points and 11 rebounds from Kowalski, and 10 and 10 from Jill Vaughan (Wareham, MA). Wetmore scored a game-high 21 points with six rebounds for RPI, while McKinley added nine points and seven rebounds. Both Vaughan and Kowalski earned spots on the All-Tournament Team for Colby, while RPI's Wetmore earned honors for the Engineers.