February 10, 2006

Pria Young

Steph Czajkowski

TROY, N.Y.--Three players reached double figures in points as William Smith defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) 63-50 in Liberty League women's basketball action at Robison Gym. With the victory, the Herons clinched a berth in the conference's four-team postseason tournament and, coupled with St. Lawrence's 61-55 overtime loss at Union, took over sole possession of first place.

It was a back-and-forth battle in a first half that saw Heron senior guard Pria Young (Council Rock/Richboro, Pa.) lead all scorers with 12 points. First-year guard Whitney Coleman (Etiwanda/Etiwanda, Calif.) led the Red Hawks (11-8, 5-5) with seven points on 2-of-4 shooting. RPI took a narrow 2-point lead (30-28) into the intermission.

The Red Hawks grabbed their final lead of the night, 39-38, at the 13:49 mark on a jumper by Coleman. A minute later, sophomore Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart/Watertown, N.Y.) put William Smith (16-4, 9-1) back in front for good with a jumper of her own. The bucket launched the Herons on a 14-0 run that gave the visitors a double digit lead they maintained through the final buzzer.

Sophomore forward Stephanie Czajkowski (Bishop Ludden/Syracuse, N.Y.) led all scorers with 16 points. Young added 14 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and five steals, while Vespa chipped in 11 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and four steals. William Smith harassed RPI into 26 turnovers, including 18 via steals.

Coleman led Rensselaer tallying a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward Kristi Baranowski added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Red Hawks, who shot just 27.0% from the field.

William Smith is in action on Feb. 11, when the Herons travel to Vassar for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

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