Williams College alum Kristi Kirshe and the U.S. women's rugby sevens team will play for a bronze medal at 1 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday after falling to defending gold medalist New Zealand, 24-12, in the semi-finals on Monday.

 

Kirshe made two big plays at the end of each half in the semis.

 

At the end of the first half, she made a tackle out of bounds on a New Zealand player just outside the try zone in extra time to keep it a two-point game.

 

Team USA had scored first on a try from Alev Kelter with an assist from Kirshe to make it 5-0.

 

New Zealand answered a minute later and made its conversion to take a 7-5 lead, which stood until half-time.

 

The Black Birds took over in the second, though, scoring 17 straight points -- twice off U.S. defensive zone turnovers, to take an insurmountable 19-point margin.

 

In extra time, Kirshe made a run from the middle of the field, outracing the New Zealand defenders to the try zone for a final score to make the final margin more respectable and give the U.S. some momentum going to the third-place match.

 

Team USA will play either Canada or Australia, who were slated to meet in the other semi-final.