TROY, N.Y. - The duo of Amanda Lynch and Ashley Clough combined for 38 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, four steals and a blocked shot to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team to a 73-59 win over Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in a Liberty League matinee at East Campus Arena. The Engineers have won three straight games to improve to 6-5 overall and 2-0 in the league. The Tigers have lost three in a row and fall to 6-5 and 0-2. 

Lynch, a senior  (Middletown, NY / John S. Burke) led the way with game-high in points with 20 and rebounds with 13. She also had two assists, a block and a steal. Clough (West Chesterfield, NH / Keene) scored 18 points with eight rebounds, two assists and three steals. Also reaching double digits in points for the home team was freshman Shaina Iton (Peekskill, NY / Peekskill), who scored 11 points with six rebounds. She also had three blocked shots.

The Engineers opened the game on an 8-0 run and held the Tigers scoreless until the 15:47 mark. Rensselaer never trailed and enjoyed a lead of 15 points with 2:11 left in the second half.

RIT did cut the deficit to two points, 46-44, with 14:45 to play in the second half, but Iton scored in the paint on two possessions, Lynch made a three-point basket, Bailei Tetrault (Cohoes, NY / Cohoes) scored on a layup and made the free throw after being fouled on the shot and Rensselaer's lead was back up to 12 points, 56-44, with 11:35 to play in the second half. Lynch then made a jumper for a 14-point bulge, 58-44 with 9:23 to play, before RIT's Taylor Burns (Rochester, NY / Greece Odyssey) ended the Tigers scoreless drought, which covered more than five minutes, with a successful jumper to make it a 58-46 RPI lead with 9:09 to play. RPI maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the afternoon to win for the fourth time in the last six games.

Freshman Jessi Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY / Scholars Academy) and sophomore Julia Bender (Webster, NY / Webster Thomas) both had 14 points for RIT. Glaz also had six rebounds, while Bender pulled down five boards with four assists and three steals. As a team, the Tigers were held to just 29.4% shooting from the floor (20 of 68), while allowing the Engineers to make 41.9% (26 of 62) of its shots. 

Rensselaer hosts another pair of Liberty League games next Friday and Saturday, welcoming Union College on Friday (6pm) and Skidmore College on Saturday (2pm). RIT hosts league foes St. Lawrence University and Clarkson University next Friday and Saturday. Game times are also 6pm and 2pm.