The ACPHS Women's Basketball Team fell to the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Thursday by a score of 84-50. It was both teams' games of the 2018-19 season, making them 0-1 and 1-0 respectively.

The Panthers were always going to have a tough time against the Engineers, members of the NCAA's Third Division, but they showed that they belonged in the first quarter where they ended up only being outscored by three. RPI scored the game's opening six points, but from then on were outscored 18-15 in the first quarter by Albany, thanks in large part to senior guard Emma Webster's (Cadyville, NY / Saranac High) three made threes.

The Panthers ended the quarter on a 7-0 run, and continued to ascend in the second quarter, grabbing their first lead following a layup by Ava Misner (Meriden, CT / Platt) with six minutes to go before halftime. The lead was short-lived though, as the Engineers grabbed it back with their next possession and raced out to a 14-point lead just three minutes later. The catalyst for RPI was senior guard Elizabeth Eckhardt, who scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. ACP were able to cut the lead to nine before the break, with freshman guard Clare Snell (Potsdam, NY /Parishville Hopkinton) scoring ten points during her first collegiate half.

Albany looked to be back in it after freshman Shriya Chandna (Fremont, CA / Irvington) hit a three the deficit to six in the opening seconds of the half, but a 12-0 run from RPI quickly quashed any Panther hopes of a comeback. The Engineers outscored Albany 24-7 in the third quarter and 17-9 in the fourth. Their largest lead was the final margin of victory, 34.

In the end, Albany's lack of size hurt them, as they were outrebounded 47-26 and gave up 18 second chance points. It will be interesting to see how Head Coach Cornelius Tavarres goes about dealing with the loss of ACP's all-time leader in points and rebounds Dannie Griffin throughout the year. For Albany, it was Webster and Snell leading the way with 18 and 17 points, with Snell chipping in four assists and three steals as well.

Albany will look for their first win when they host Southern Maine Community College tomorrow, November 10^th at 12:00 PM.