SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College women's basketball team won its fourth straight game to remain perfect in Liberty League play, defeating RPI 62-53 at the Williamson Sports Center Saturday afternoon.
 
The Thoroughbreds sit in first place with a 4-0 record in league play, and a 7-5 record overall. The Engineers fall to 5-8 overall and 0-4 in the league.
 
Thoroughbreds junior guard Kelly Donnelly led all scorers with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field, adding six rebounds and three steals. She sits just nine points away from becoming the 14th 1,000-point scorer in Skidmore history. Junior guard Veronica Moceri tallied 12 points and six rebounds, while sophomore guard Haley English added 10 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
 
Guard Sam Krumbhaar led RPI with 19 points, while forward Julianna O'Neill added 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting from the field. Forward Shaina Iton just missed a double-double with eight points and 15 rebounds.
 
The Thoroughbreds looked poised to break the game open after scoring five unanswered points to end the first quarter with the 17-9 advantage. The Thoroughbreds pushed it to as many as nine, as a Donnelly jumper made it 22-13, but the Engineers worked the boards to make the game close. After RPI brought the deficit to 25-20 on a made free throw, Iton grabbed an offensive rebound on their next possession, as Krumblaar eventually sank the trey to reduce the deficit to two. Skidmore took to the lockers with the 27-23 halftime lead after a pair of made free throws by English with 0.8 seconds left.
 
RPI came back to tie the game early in the third quarter, as they scored on another offensive rebound, this time off a missed free throw. From there, the Thoroughbreds went on a 10-0 run. Baskets by English and junior guard Ari Fustini gave Skidmore the lead, while Moceri hit a tough jumper to push the lead to 37-29. She later converted on a pair of free throws for the double-digit lead with 3:59 to go in the period.
 
The Engineers tried to mount a final rally, with Krumbhaar sinking a try to reduce the deficit to 59-53 with 18 seconds left, but Donnelly and senior forward Migle Vilunaite sank crucial free throws to close it out.
 
Skidmore's defense was solid for the second straight contest, holding RPI to just 33.9 percent shooting from the field. RPI also went 8-for-22 from the charity stripe. The Engineers held a 44-35 rebounding advantage, including 19 offensive rebounds.
 
Skidmore will next head to Clarkson for a Tuesday evening contest. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.