Acosta Voted First-Team All-E8
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College Women's Basketball senior guard Layla Acosta (Haines City, FL/Haines City) was voted first-team All-Empire 8 Conference. Accolades, determined in a vote conducted by the league's head coaches, were announced by the E8 office earlier today.
The guard, who helped the Gators qualify for the E8 Championship Tournament for the second-straight year, ranked fourth in the Conference in scoring with 16.1 points per-game. The three-time All-E8 selection finished the season with 1,276 career points, good for fourth on the program's career scoring list.
"Layla is the most complete scorer I've ever coached," said Head Coach Michael Branche. "She can score at all three levels and do it in a variety of ways. But what makes this honor so meaningful is how much she grew this year as a playmaker, a defender, and a leader. She made a real commitment to impacting the game on both ends of the floor, and that growth is what elevated her to first-team All-Conference."
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2025-2026 E8 Women's Basketball Tomorrow's Leaders Team. This team honors a student-athlete who has emerged as a leader not only on the field of play, but in the classroom and in the community. In addition, they "compete with honor and integrity" and have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen. Senior forward Emily Zeh (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) represented the Gators (15-11/10-6 E8) on the squad.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: The 2025-2026 season marked the second with Michael 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, which reached the Quarterfinals in both appearances, combined eight returners with four newcomers on this year's roster…Acosta and junior forward Kallie Hopkins (Millsboro, DE/Poly Tech) highlighted the returnees…Acosta, a three-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 ranks fourth in program records with 1,276 career points...Emily Parslow '19 is third with 1,370 career points… 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 went into the postseason ranked fourth in the E8 with a 16.1 points per-game scoring average…Going into the E8 Tournament, Hopkins ranked fifth in the Conference in rebounding at 8.7.
