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GENEVA, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team made five consecutive defensive stops in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Engineers could not come all the back from a five-point deficit, losing to William Smith College 61-58 in a Liberty League matchup at Bristol Gymnasium. RPI, which trailed 59-54 with 3:13 remaining, is now 5-13 overall and 1-8 in the conference. The Herons improve to 8-10 and 6-4.

Following a made basket by William Smith's Melanie Patterson, Rensselaer got two baskets from sophomore Shaina Iton on the offensive end of the floor and a pair of stops on the defensive side to pull to within a point, 59-58, with 1:04 to play. Another defensive hold, a steal and an offensive rebound provided the Engineers with three opportunities to take the lead, but it was the Herons who made defensive stops. On RPI's third miss, William Smith's Kendra Quinn-Moultrie pulled down the defensive rebound and was immediately fouled with two seconds showing on the clock. She was successful on both attempts for a three-point lead and Elizabeth Eckhardt's game-tying field goal attempt at the buzzer was off the mark. 

Freshman Sam Krumbhaar led the Engineers in scoring with 14 points. Iton had eight points and six rebounds and Kate Goodell scored eight points with four rebounds. The Engineers, who got 22 points from non-starters, made 37.9 percent of their shots from the floor (25 of 66), but only 37.5 percent of their free throws (3 of 8).

The Herons made 39 percent of its shots (23 of 59), plus 68.8 percent of their free throws (11 of 16), to win for the fourth time in their last five games. Quinn-Moultrie led all scorers with 19 points. She also had five rebounds, two assists and four steals. Gabrielle Eure added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Mia Morrison scored 11 points with nine boards.

Both teams return to action on Friday with Liberty League road contests. The Engineers travel to Clarkson University, while the Herons play at Vassar College. Both games begin at 6pm.