Box Score

GENEVA, N.Y. - Graduate student Sarah Wetmore matcher her career-high with 28 points and she added 13 rebounds to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team to a 74-61 win over William Smith College in a Liberty League contest. Wetmore connected on 11 of 16 shots from the floor to help the Engineers improve to 11-7 overall and 5-4 in the league. The Herons are now 12-7 and 6-4.

Rensselaer jumped out to an 8-5 lead four minutes into the contest behind six points from sophomore Amanda Lynch (Middletown, NY / J. Burke Catholic). The Engineers held the lead, building it to six points on two ocassions, until the Herons battled back to tie the score, 17-17, on a layup by junior Erin O'Brien (Buffalo, NY / Nardin Academy) with 11 minutes left in the first half. RPI scored the next seven points to gain a 24-17 edge with 8:22 left before increasing its advantage to 10 points, 36-26 with 3:59 to go. A basket by William Smith's Chloe Hayter (Lilitz, PA / Warwick) and a three-pointer by O'Brien pulled the home team to within five points, 36-31, before the teams traded baskets and RPI led at halftime, 39-34.

Wetmore (Sudbury, MA / Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) had 15 first half points for the Engineers, while Lynch had eight. Junior Sasha Borenstein (Agoura Hills, CA / Agoura Hills) had 10 points, Hayter had 11 and O'Brien six for the home team.

Six points by Wetmore only two minutes into the second half helped Rensselaer build an 11-point lead, 48-37. The Engineers maintained a double-digit advantage for the majority of the next 11 minutes. A Wetmore free throw with 7:03 left put RPI ahead by 14 points, 61-47.

Rensselear maintained a 14-point advantage for the next two minutes but the Herons got back-to-back baskets from Borenstein, sophomore Molly Breen (Mills, MA / Mills) and senior Jaimie Rubin (Demarest, NJ / Northern Valley) to cut their deficit to 10 points, 63-55 with about four minutes to play but a pair of free throws by sophomore Jen Rock (Byfield, MA / Triton Regional) put RPI back up by 10 points with just over two minutes to play in the half. RPI built on its lead from that point, ultimately winning by 13 points.

In addition to Wetmore, others from Rensselaer to reach double figures in scoring were Lynch, who recorded 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Rock chipped in 11 points off the bench.

Hayter had team-highs of 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Borenstein finished with 12 points for William Smith, which hosts league-leading Skidmore College on Saturday at 2pm. RPI travels to league foe Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday for a 2pm tipoff.