Rachel Vespucci '19 had the best week of her career for the women's basketball team, as she collected the first two double-doubles of her collegiate career in Elmira's contests against Shenandoah and Gallaudet. The sophomore forward averaged a whopping 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 assists in the two-game span, while shooting 51.7 percent from the floor.
In the midweek bout at Shenandoah, the product of Macedon, New York, set new career highs with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Her effort crashing the boards helped the Soaring Eagles register a season-high 47 rebounds and out-rebound the Hornets by a wide 47-to-32 margin.
In Sunday's 82-59 victory over Gallaudet in Elmira's home opener at Speidel Gymnasium, Vespucci tied her career best with a second consecutive 18-point performance. In addition, she hauled in another 10 rebounds to complete her second straight double-double. In the second quarter, she broke a 13-13 tie to give EC a lead it would never relinquish and helped the Soaring Eagles pull away with six of the team's first eight points of the period. She went on a tear in the third quarter as well; in a one-and-a-half minute span from 5:12 to 3:43, she scored seven points, hauled in an offensive rebound that resulted in an and-one, and then stripped a Bison player and earned the assist on the ensuing layup by Emily Green '18.
On the season, the Our Lady of Mercy grad paces Elmira and ranks 10th in the Empire 8 Conference with 7.8 rebounds per game. Vespucci also climbed into second place on the team in scoring with an average of 12.0 points per contest.
The Elmira women return to the home hardwood on Tuesday, November 29th, when the Soaring Eagles welcome Pennsylvania College of Technology to the friendly confines of Speidel Gymnasium. Tip-off time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
