Postseason-Bound Gators Conclude Regular Season with a Home Win
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women’s Basketball, heading to the upcoming Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament, concluded its regular season by defeating visiting Hartwick 66-59.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
14 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 59 |
|
|
21 | 14 | 11 | 20 | 66 |
Team Stats
Hartwick
| Game Statistics | Hartwick | Russell Sage College |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (19-52) | (26-66) |
| Field Goal % | 36.5% | 39.4% |
| Rebounds | 43 | 35 |
| Assists | 4 | 15 |
| Turnovers | 17 | 9 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 16 | 22 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 13 | 16 |
| Pts in the Paint | 30 | 28 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 2 | 8 |
| Bench Pts | 22 | 24 |
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women's Basketball, heading to the upcoming Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament, concluded its regular season by defeating visiting Hartwick 66-59.
The Gators (15-10/10-6 E8), which will be playing at SUNY Geneseo on Saturday in the Quarterfinals, used a 15-4 fourth quarter run to secure the home triumph.
Senior Layla Acosta (Haines City, FL/Haines City) topped all participants with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting. The guard, who finished the night ranked fourth in the Conference in scoring average, had 13 points in the opening 20 minutes, helping RSC go into the locker room ahead 35-31.
Guard Kyla Smith (Sprakers, NY/Fonda-Fultonville/Fredonia), a graduate student, added 13 points and four assists, while junior Kallie Hopkins (Millsboro, DE/Poly Tech) provided a double-double of 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 11 rebounds. The forward, among the Conference's leading rebounders, contributed three assists and two steals.
"I'm very proud of how the team competed today," commented RSC Head Coach Michael Branche. "They held their composure throughout the game and really leaned on each other to close it out. The home fans were awesome tonight and brought a ton of energy."
The Gators got out to a great start, holding a 12-4 lead 3:37 in. Hartwick battled back, trimming its deficit to one, 23-22, midway through the second period to head into the locker room down 35-31. Acosta topped all players with 13 first half points on 6-of-7 shooting.
The second half had a similar structure with RSC extending its advantage to 11, 44-33, with 3:41 left in the frame. The Hawks responded to trail by one, 46-45, with 9:23 left in regulation.
From there, Acosta and Smith knocked down a trio of treys in succession, part of the 15-4 Gator run. The RSC lead was at least six across the final 4:14.
Junior guard Macy Durkin paced the Hawks (6-19/3-13 E8) with a double-double of 11 points and 12 boards.
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 have now qualified for the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament in both of his seasons at the helm…RSC, coming off a trip to the Quarterfinals of the 2024-2025 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament, combined eight returners with four newcomers on this year's roster…Acosta and Hopkins 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 goes into the postseason fourth in program records with 1,260 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…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 took home E8 Player of the Week honors for the period ending Sunday, February 1…The guard, who averaged 22.3 points on 39.3 percent shooting across three games, scored 35 points at SUNY Brockport (1/30)...She passed Mary Leary '83 for fourth place on the program's career scoring list with the output, tied for the third-most in a game by an RSC player...On January 12, 2019, Emily Parslow '19, who is third on the program career scoring list, scored 35 points vs. Nazareth…Acosta enters the playoffs ranked fourth in the E8 with a 16.1 points per-game scoring average…Hopkins heads into the Saturday Quarterfinal contest in the Conference in rebounding at 8.7.
