Box Score GENEVA, N.Y.—Senior guard Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart/Watertown, N.Y.) became the 13th Heron to reach the 1,000-point plateau as the 14th-ranked William Smith College basketball team won for the 15th consecutive time, dispatching Rensselaer 77-55. Vespa was one of four Herons to reach double digits in the scoring column, producing 14 points, six assists, and four steals.

Vespa’s big basket came with 8:07 remaining in the contest. She made her fourth three-pointer of the game to put William Smith (18-1, 9-0 Liberty League) in front by 18 and raise her career total to 1,002 points. Vespa was joined in double digits by junior guard Latasha Coney (Lyons/Lyons, N.Y.), graduate student guard Paula Foote (Sidney/Sidney, N.Y.), and senior forward Stephanie Czajkowski (Bishop Ludden/Syracuse, N.Y.), who contributed 16, 13, and 12 points, respectively.

The Red Hawks’ defeat overshadowed the outstanding individual effort of junior forward Elizabeth Barker (Cathedral/Suffield, Conn.). She notched game-highs of 20 points and 17 rebounds, helping RPI (8-11, 3-6) to a 51-40 advantage on the glass.

The visitors opened the game on a 10-0 run, taking advantage of a slow start by the Herons. Following a William Smith timeout at 15:33, the Herons pushed back with a 17-5 swing. Coney and Foote hit back-to-back three-pointer to tie the game 15-all and Czajkowski capped the surge with a pair of free throws that gave the home team its first lead, 17-15.

Rensselaer managed to tie the game four times in the waning minutes of the first half, but never reclaimed the lead as William Smith carried a 27-25 lead into halftime.

While the Herons struggle from the floor in the first half, shooting just 25 percent, they had no such issues after the intermission. William Smith shot 45.7 percent in the second half, including 5-of-9 from behind the arc. The Herons played inspired basketball to start the frame, outscoring RPI 19-6 in the first six minutes. Coney accounted for seven points during the run.

William Smith maintained a double digit lead from the 17-minute mark on, leading by as many as 22. The win, coupled with the rest of this weekend’s action in the Liberty League, clinched one of the four playoff spots for the Herons.

William Smith is back in action at 6 p.m. on Feb. 15, when the Herons travel to St. Lawrence.