Gators Open 2026 at VTSU: Castleton
CASTLETON, Vt. – Playing for the first time in 23 days, Russell Sage College Women’s Basketball opened 2026 with this afternoon's 63-54 non-conference setback at Vermont State University: Castleton.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
20 | 4 | 20 | 10 | 54 |
|
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17 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 63 |
Team Stats
VTSU Castleton
| Game Statistics | Russell Sage College | VTSU Castleton |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (22-61) | (22-63) |
| Field Goal % | 36.1% | 34.9% |
| Rebounds | 36 | 43 |
| Assists | 6 | 11 |
| Turnovers | 19 | 15 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 8 | 13 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 2 | 5 |
| Pts in the Paint | 34 | 30 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 6 | 6 |
| Bench Pts | 11 | 8 |
CASTLETON, Vt. – Playing for the first time in 23 days, Russell Sage College Women's Basketball opened 2026 with this afternoon's 63-54 non-conference setback at Vermont State University: Castleton.
The Gators (5-4) had four players score at least six points in the Saturday matinee.
Senior Layla Acosta (Haines City, FL/Haines City) topped all participants with 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting. The output moved the guard into seventh place on the program's career scoring list with 1,047 career points. She passed Samantha Pasinella '23 (1,037) this afternoon.
Sophomore guard Jaileen Soto (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) added eight points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Junior forward Kallie Hopkins (Millsboro, DE/Poly Tech) registered seven points, 11 boards, and four steals, while senior forward Aniyah Kelley (New Castle, DE/William Penn) tallied six points and eight rebounds.
VTSU: Castleton (4-7), in action for the third time this week, had a trio of players net twin figures to snap a six-game slide.
Junior forward Arianna Coombs provided the Spartans, which closed the contest on a 9-1 run, a double-double of 14 points on 3-of-10 shooting and 16 rebounds.
Looking ahead, RSC commences Empire 8 Conference play on Tuesday at Utica.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: The 2025-2026 season will mark the second with Michael Branche at the helm…The Gators, coming off a trip to the Quarterfinals of the 2024-2025 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament, combine eight returners with four newcomers on this year's roster…Senior guard Layla Acosta (Haines City, FL/Haines City) and junior forward Kallie Hopkins (Millsboro, DE/Poly Tech) highlight the returnees…Acosta, a two-time All-Conference pick, became just the tenth RSC player to surpass 1,000 career points in the home win vs. SUNY Cobleskill on December 1…She entered the contest with 1,029 career points...Next up on the RSC career scoring list are Frankie Pearson '17 and Megan Bowman '15 with 1,081 and 1,080 respectively...Hopkins finished last season ranked fifth in the E8 with a 7.6 rebounding average…Acosta was tabbed the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, November 9…She topped all players with 24 points on 47.3 percent shooting in the season-opening home victory vs. Bard on November 8…Freshman guard Miranda Price (Stillwater, NY/Stillwater) was chosen the E8 Rookie of the Week for the period ending Sunday, November 16…She tallied a game-high 19 points in the home win vs. SUNY Morrisville on November 15…Price went 7-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, in her collegiate debut…Acosta was tabbed an E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, December 7…The guard tallied 26 points on 43.5 percent shooting in the home win vs. SUNY Cobleskill on December 1.
