TROY, N.Y. - Senior
Celia Tomlinson scored 14 points with 17 rebounds and six blocked shots and 12 of her teammates had at least two points as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team defeated John Jay College 94-61 in a non-league game at East Campus Arena. RPI, which was playing its first home contest of the season, improves to 1-1, while the Bloodhounds drop to 0-2.
The visitors jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a trey from senior Nyasha Howard, but the Engineers answered with a 6-0 run for a three point lead. After John Jay's Jessica Gorman tied it 6-6 with a three pointer, Rensselaer scored the next 14 points for a 20-6 lead. Senior
Sam Krumbhaar scored five points in the stretch and four others had two points apiece. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter and Rensselaer held a 24-12 lead 15 minutes into the contest.
The Engineers opened the second quarter with a basket, but John Jay scored the next six points to pull to within 26-19. A 9-0 run by RPI followed and it built its advantage to as many as 22 points in the opening half. Rensselaer led 43-25 at the break behind six points, seven rebounds and five blocks from Tomlinson.
Courtney Lewis added seven points and Krumbhaar had six points with three assists and two steals.
Howard had 10 points and eight rebounds for John Jay.
Rensselaer extended its lead by 10 points in the third quarter and the two teams played even in the fourth quarter - RPI had a 21-20 advantage - for the final margin.
In addition to Tomlinson, others from Rensselaer who reached double digits in points were Lewis (13),
Ines Ortea (10),
Lolo Reynolds (10) and
Lyndsey Stone (10), who also had five rebounds. Reynolds added four assists.
Sophomore Lily Rakitzis led the Bloodhounds with 19 points, including 11 of 13 from the free throw line, while All-aha Albright scored 13 points, including the 1000th of her career. Howard finished with 13 boards.
John Jay returns to action on Saturday at St. Joseph's College on Long Island (1pm), while the Engineers play at the College of Saint Elizabeth on Saturday at 2pm.
