CANTON, N.Y. – Heather Converse had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds and the senior helped the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team hold St. Lawrence University to only 18 points in the second half of a Liberty League game at Burkman Gymnasium. RPI improves to 10-12 overall and 7-8 in the conference and sits in fifth place in the standings. The fourth-place Saints drop to 13-8 and 9-6.
 
Converse converted on 6 of 8 shots from the field and had three offensive rebounds on her way to leading all players in both categories. She also had a steal in 29 minutes. Danielle Strauf added 11 points, five rebounds, and a steal, while Julia Rowe registered seven points and eight boards.

Defensively, RPI held St. Lawrence to just 32.8 percent shooting (19 of 58) with only 8 of 28 (28.5%) shots made in the second half. The Saints turned the ball over 15 times in the loss, its first in six games. Jackie Malley and Olivia Middleton both had 10 points for the home team.
 
Trailing 27-17 at halftime, the Engineers came out in the third quarter and scored the first 11 points of the third quarter for a 28-27 lead. Nicole DaPra had five points, Brielle Sharry scored four points, and Converse had a basket to help RPI nearly double the number of points it scored in the entire first quarter (6).
 
The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the frame, which ended with the Saints ahead 36-34.
 
A 6-0 spurt by the Engineers to open the fourth made it 40-36 with 7:30 remaining and they led by either two, three, or four points until Strauf made two free throws with 17 seconds left for a 51-45 edge. Rowe made two more from the line eight seconds later for the final margin.
 
Rensselaer held St. Lawrence off the scoreboard for the final 1:23.