Box Score

TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team used balanced scoring to overcome a six-point halftime deficit and defeat Smith College, 66-63, in a non-league game at East Campus Arena.
 
Three student-athletes scored in double figures and two others had nine points apiece to help the homestanding Engineers improve to 3-1. The Pioneers, who also had three players reach double figures in points, fall to 2-1.
 
Smith shot 42.9% from the field in the first half and had the lead up to as many as 15 points, 33-18 with 4:44 remaining. The Engineers battled back to cut the deficit to single digits and trailed 39-33 at the break.
 
Senior Devon Quattrocchi (Brewster, NY / Brewster) and Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, CA / Foothill) both had nine points in the first frame, while Rosa Drummond (Rye, NH / Portsmouth) had five points and six rebounds for Smith, which made 15 of its 35 shots, many of which came from close range after breaking Rensselaer's pressure.
 
RPI, which shot 34.3% (12 of 35) in the first half, saw sophomore Amanda Lynch (Middletown, NY / J. Burke Catholic) score nine points in the first 20 minutes. Classmate Michelle Reid (Derry, NH / Pinkerton Academy) came off the bench with six points on a pair of key three-point shots. Her first came with the Engineers trailing by 14 points with just under four minutes left and her second pulled Rensselaer within seven points with 2:42 left.
 
Rensselaer came out and scored the first six points of the second half and the score remained close for the majority of the contest.
 
RPI's first lead of the second frame came on a basket by sophomore Jen Rock (Byfield MA / Triton Regional), which made it 47-45 with 13:59 remaining. Seven straight points from classmate Courtney Reynolds (San Diego, CA / Rancho Bernardo) put the Engineers ahead by nine, 54-45, with 11 minutes remaining but Smith countered with the next 10 points for a 55-54 edge three minutes later.
 
Neither team went ahead by more than two points until the final minute when a steal and basket by Sarah Wetmore (Sudbury, MA / Lincoln Sudbury Regional) gave RPI a 65-61 lead.
 
Wetmore, who only played 23 minutes due to foul trouble, finished with a team-high 13 points, while Lynch had 11 and Rock scored 10. Smith's Bethany Claps (Staten Island, NY / Staten Island Academy) led all scorers with 16 points. Quattrocchi and Sydney Parkmond (Westbury, CT / Chase Collegiate) had 11 points apiece.
 
RPI is back on the court on Tuesday at Utica College. Smith plays Mount Holyoke College on Wednesday.