Gators Use Late Surge to Secure Overtime Victory
ONEONTA, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women’s Basketball scored 12 of the final 14 points of overtime to pick up a 68-63 Empire 8 Conference win at Hartwick.
ONEONTA, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women's Basketball scored 12 of the final 14 points of overtime to pick up a 68-63 Empire 8 Conference win at Hartwick.
Senior Layla Acosta (Haines City, FL/Haines City), who began the week ranked fourth in the Conference in scoring average, had seven of her 13 points in the extra session to help the Gators (12-6/7-2 E8) get the road victory. The guard, one of four RSC players in double figures, put the visitors ahead for good with a steal and layup with 1:38 remaining.
Junior forward Kallie Hopkins (Millsboro, DE/Poly Tech) led all players with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting and four rebounds.
Senior forward Aniyah Kelley (New Castle, DE/William Penn) and sophomore guard Jaileen Soto (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) registered double-doubles. Kelley tallied 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 12 rebounds, while Soto recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Junior guard Yadira Smith topped Hartwick (4-14/1-8 E8), now on an eight-game skid, with 18 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals.
RSC, victorious in five of its last six contests, continues a stretch of three-straight road games on Friday at SUNY Brockport.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: The 2025-2026 season marks the second with Michael Branche at the helm of Russell Sage College Women's Basketball…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…Hopkins and Acosta 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 fifth in program records with 1,157 career points...Mary Leary '83 is fourth with 1,199 career points…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…She opened the week ranked fourth in the E8 with a 16.7 points per-game scoring average…Hopkins started the evening fifth in the Conference in rebounding at 9.1...Forward Isabella Clute (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) was selected the Conference Rookie of the Week for the period ending Sunday, January 18…The freshman averaged 8.0 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 4.0 rebounds to help the Gators have an undefeated week.