The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team outscored RPI 30-11 in the first quarter en route to a 62-46 Liberty League win over Rensselaer on Friday night at Burkman Gymnasium.

Katie Gallagher led the Saints with 14 points, while Kaelyn Kohlasch added 12. First-year Katie Frederick posted nine points and a team-high 13 rebounds against the Engineers. Cara Waterson and Jenny Scudder each recorded six points for the Saints.

The Saints nearly tallied half their points in the first ten minutes of play, shooting 51 percent from the field, to accumulate a 30-11 lead.

The Engineers attempted to rally, topping the Saints 15-8 in the second quarter. Sam O'Keefe, Elizabeth Eckhardt, Shaina Iton and Kate Goodell each netted buckets during that stretch.

The Scarlet and Brown held a 38-26 lead at the half, but scoring remained fairly even through the final two quarters.

Gallagher tallied the first two buckets of the third frame, rebuilding a 16-point advantage for the Saints. Kohlasch and Meghan Hynes extended that lead to 19 after a shot from the arc and a layup with 4:52 remaining.

LaKissa Martin posted back-to-back layups, bringing the Engineers back within eight, with just under three minutes to play in regulation. The Saints shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to seal the win.

"RPI is a good team," said head coach Dan Roiger. "There is a reason they are in the hunt for the playoffs. We got on a roll in the first quarter and really played well, but they made good adjustments after that and panicked us. It was a weird game, because we were up by twenty points but we played frazzled and that allowed them to crawl back into the game.  We rushed our offense, were impatient and took the first shot instead of a better shot We had 2 turnovers in the first quarter where we scored 30 points, and then had 20 turnovers in the next three quarters and only scored 32 total. That's been a challenge for us off and on this season and its not unexpected with a young team. We keep growing and getting better, but now it is playoff time and we need to play well for four quarters instead of one."
 
"I'm really proud of this team in returning to the playoffs after an injury-plagued disappointing season last year," Roiger continued. "This team was picked seventh in our league, starts three freshmen, and not only earned a playoff spot, but now a guaranteed home game. In addition, we are only a game out of first place in a league that is ranked in the top 10 in the nation for Division III. It's been a great season and this group has been really fun to coach! I'd like it to continue for a little longer, every game from here on out is a playoff team, we need to arrive and play for every game."



Rensselaer was led by Sam Krumbhaar with 12 points, while Martin and Eckhardt each added eight. Martin and Eckhardt combined for four rebounds, while Martin grabbed a team-high three steals.

With the win, St. Lawrence improved to 17-7 on the season and 12-5 in league play, while the Engineers fell to 11-13 and 7-10.

The Saints will host Skidmore in the last regular season game of the year on senior day, Saturday, February 17th. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.