Box Score |
RPI Athletics on TwitterTROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team fought back from an early 11-point deficit and eventually forced overtime, but the Engineers could not hold off Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), dropping a Liberty League contest, 89-81, at East Campus Arena. RPI, which trailed 13-2 at the start of the game, falls to 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the conference. The Tigers improve to 9-2 and 2-0.
Tied at 70-70 at the end of regulation, RIT took control of the extra session right away, led by sophomore Amanda Olsen (Glen Mills, PA / Archmere Academy). In the first 2:18 of overtime, she had a three-point basket, two offensive rebounds, a steal and an assist to stake the visitors to a 77-70 lead. She added a free throw and three defensive rebounds as the Tigers outscored the Engineers 19-11 for the victory. The Tigers have now won six of their last seven games.
RIT jumped out to a 13-2 lead with five different players scoring, led by Olsen's five points. The Tigers led 20-14 after the first quarter, but the Engineers pulled to within one, 33-32, at halftime. The second quarter saw RPI come back from a nine-point deficit (25-16) to tie the game at 29-29 with 1:59 to play. Sophomore forward
Shaina Iton (Peekskill, NY / Peekskill) was the catalyst, scoring six of the 13 points. After an RIT basket, she then scored the next three points for a 32-31 RPI lead with under a minute to play.
The third quarter was one of runs with Rensselaer going ahead by seven points on two occasions, but the Tigers fighting back to tie the score, 53-53, by the end of the frame. RPI started the fourth quarter quickly, getting the first five points thanks to a jumper from
Bailei Tetrault (Cohoes, NY / Cohoes) and a three-pointer from
Ellen Boucher (Williston, VT / Rice Memorial), but RIT came right back to tie the game on two- and three-point baskets of its own Jessica Glaz's (Rockaway Beach, NY / Scholars Academy) free throw made it a 59-58 lead for the Tigers with 6:09 to play.
A Maria Edwards (Forrest Hill, MD / The Carroll School) layup two minutes later put RIT ahead by seven points, 67-60, but RPI continued to battle. The Engineers eventually tied the score at 70-70 on a layup by senior
Ashley Clough (West Chesterfield, NH / Keene) with 11 seconds remaining. The Tigers had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a shot by freshman guard Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA / Troy) in the paint hit the rim and bounced out.
Olsen, a forward/guard, finished with 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting. She also had nine rebounds, five assists and a steal in 35 minutes. Glaz finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds, along with six assists and a pair of steals. Freshman Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ / Newton) scored 17 points with 10 rebounds for a double-double of her own, while Edwards had 14 points, including several key free throws in overtime, with seven rebounds and four assists.
Iton led the Engineers, scoring 20 points with six rebounds, an assist, three steals and four blocked shots. Tetrault added 12 points and five assists, while Boucher also scored a dozen, including 4 of 6 from three-point range. Clough had 11 points and seven rebounds and freshmen
LaKissa Martin (Las Vegas, NV / Rancho) and
Elizabeth Eckhardt (Albany, NY / Guilderland) both had 11 points.
Rensselaer travels to league foe Vassar College on Tuesday (6pm), while the Tigers host Union College the same night. Both games are league contests.
