TROY, N.Y. -- Amanda Lynch finished with a game-high 19 points to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to a 49-40 win over William Smith in Liberty League women's basketball action on Friday evening at East Campus Arena. With the win, the Engineers improve to 10-7 overall, witha 6-2 mark in league play, while the Herons fall to 3-11 and 2-4 in the conference.

Neither team could get much going offensively in the first half, which was marked by six ties. The largest advantage of the half came after a 5-0 run by William Smith, capped off by a pair of free throws from Chloe Hayter (Lititz, PA / Warwick) which gave the Herons a 17-14 lead with 5:20 left to play. Lynch hit back-to-back baskets to put Rensselaer back on top by one, but Gabrielle Eure (East Syracuse, NY / East Syracuse Minoa) converted a three-point play with 26 seconds to go to give William Smith a 20-18 lead. Ashley Clough (West Chesterfield, NH / Keene) hit a jumper with just three seconds on the clock to send the teams to the locker room tied at 20-20. 

Baskets by Eure early in the second half gave the Herons their last leads of the game, including a 27-26 advantage with 14:10 to play. However, RPI's Ellen Boucher (Williston, VT / Rice Memorial) answered with a 3-pointer at 13:55 that put the Engineers on top for good. William Smith was able to cut the advantage to within four on a pair of free throws from Eure at 10:14, but the Engineers continued to rally, pushing their lead to nine on a jumper by Clough with 3:20 left to play. Baskets by Eure and Melanie Patterson (Vestal, NY / Vestal) were not enough, and Bailei Tetrault (Cohoes, NY / Cohoes) sealed up the nine-point victory for the Engineers with a pair of free throws in the waning seconds.

Lynch (Middletown, NY / John S. Burke Catholic) added seven rebounds and three blocks for RPI, while Clough totaled 17 points and eight caroms. Tetrault added eight points, eight boards, and six assists in 40 minutes of action for the Engineers. Rensselaer finished with nine blocks in the game, led by freshman Shaina Iton (Peekskill, NY / Peekskill) with four.

Eure finished with a double-double for William Smith, scoring 17 points and grabbing a game-high 18 rebounds, helping the Herons to out-rebound the Engineers by a 52-39 margin. Patterson was the only other player in double digit scoring for William Smith, totaling 11 points, while Hayter added seven points and 13 boards.

Rensselaer will return to action on Saturday, visiting crosstown rival Union at 2 p.m. William Smith travels to Skidmore on Saturday to take on the Thoroughbreds, also at 2 p.m.