Box Score Senior Day Gallery

TROY, N.Y. – Led by a combined 34 points from its senior class, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team defeated Clarkson University, 66-45 on Senior Appreciation Day and the final regular season game at East Campus Arena.  With the win, the Engineers move to 16-9 overall and 10-6 in the conference, while Golden Knights conclude their season with an 8-16 record, going 3-13 in the Liberty League.
 
The victory also secured the #2 seed in the Liberty League Tournament for RPI, which will now host Vassar, the #3 seed.  The semifinal game will take place at East Campus Arena with a start time of 7pm.  Rensselaer swept the regular season series against Vassar, defeating the Brewers, 74-59 at home and 69-59 in Poughkeepsie.
 
It was a slow start to the game for both teams, but the Engineers came out on top from the start, jumping out to a 5-0 lead with all the points coming from senior Hillary McKinley (Quinebaug, CT/Tourtellotte Memorial).  Clarkson continued to struggle, but finally broke onto the scoreboard at 13:59 on a free throw make by rookie Jovanna Snead (Poughkeepsie, NY/Poughkeepsie) to make it 5-1.
 
Rensselaer continued to play solid, capitalizing off several steals to build up an 11-4 lead at the 11:45 mark behind a jumper from sophomore Kyleigh Oliveira (Agawam, MA/Agawam).
 
Knights rookie Taliah Pounds (Latham, NY/Catholic Central) helped fuel the visitors late in the first half, coming off the bench to score seven points, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the field to cut the deficit to 29-21 at halftime.
 
The second half belonged to the Engineers as they pushed their advantage to double digits at the 18:10 mark off a nice pass from senior Sarah Wetmore (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln Sudbury Regional) to McKinley for an easy layup in the paint and a 36-25 lead.
 
Clarkson continued to match bucket-for-bucket, but was unable to break the momentum as McKinley continued to score, finishing with a team-best 12 points in the game.  The Golden Knights tried to mount a comeback at the mid-point, capitalizing on several errant passes by RPI for critical points.
 
Senior Carey Turner (Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa) poured in a game-best 15 points, including nine during the second half, but Clarkson could not overcome the Rensselaer front. 
 
RPI continued to widen its advantage late, capping the solid play by the seniors as Katie Hansan (McLean, VA/Langley) picked up a quick steal and carried it in for a layup for a 61-37 lead with 2:37 to play.
 
In addition to McKinley, who added seven rebounds and a game-best four blocks, senior Lauren Hayes (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia) chipped in with 10 points and three assists.  Wetmore added six points, five rebounds and a game-best four assists, while rookie Jen Rock (Byfield, MA/Triton Regional) also had 10 points on the afternoon.
 
For the Knights, Turner chipped in with nine rebounds, while Snead added eight points.  Pounds had seven points and rookie Brooke Butkovsky (Monroe, CT/Masuk) added a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
As a team, Rensselaer shot 39.7% f(25-for-63) from the field, while holding Clarkson to just 25.4% (16-for-63) for the game.