RSC Comes Back to Edge Host SUNY Geneseo 65-64
GENESEO, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women’s Basketball erased a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to edge host SUNY Geneseo 65-64 in Saturday afternoon Empire 8 Conference action.
GENESEO, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women’s Basketball erased a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to edge host SUNY Geneseo 65-64 in Saturday afternoon Empire 8 Conference action.
Senior Layla Acosta (Haines City, FL/Haines City), who began the matinee ranked third in the Conference in scoring average, topped all players with 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting in the road comeback victory. The guard, who moved into fourth place on the program's career scoring list on Friday evening at SUNY Brockport, had 11 of her points in the final period to help RSC overcome a 55-45 deficit with 8:57 remaining. She averaged 27.0 points on 39.2 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals across the weekend action.
“This was a such a great team win," commented Head Coach Michael Branche. "I’m proud of the way the team didn’t flinch when Geneseo went on a run. When it came down to it, the team stayed together, executed the small details, and didn’t panic.”
Guard Kyla Smith (Sprakers, NY/Fonda-Fultonville/Fredonia)
SUNY Geneseo (14-5/8-2 E8), which began the day atop the E8 in team defense, had four players register double figures in the home loss.
With the calendar turning to February on Sunday, RSC (13-7/8-3 E8) only has five games left in the regular season. The Gators kick off the final stretch at home on Friday against Elmira.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: The 2025-2026 season marks the second with 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…Acosta 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 closed the matinee fourth in program records with 1,224 career points...Emily Parslow '19 is third with 1,370 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 day ranked third in the E8 with a 17.5 points per-game scoring average…Hopkins started the weekend 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...Acosta scored 35 points on Friday evening at SUNY Brockport...She passed Mary Leary '83 for fourth place on the program's career scoring list...The output was tied for the third-most in a game by an RSC player...On January 12, 2019, Parslow '19 scored 35 points vs. Nazareth.