NORTON, Mass. - Sophomores Danielle Strauf and Tyler Hormazabal each scored 14 points as the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team used a huge third quarter to defeat Wheaton College in the opening round of the Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament Friday evening. With the win, RPI improves to 2-0 on the season, while Wheaton falls to 0-1 on the young season.

RPI shot 52.9% (9-17) in the third quarter to pull ahead of Wheaton for good. The Engineers were also the recipients of 26 free throw attempts and hit 20 of them compared to just 10 tries for their host. RPI owned a 41-30 advantage on the glass, including 14 offensive rebounds.

Hormazabal came off the bench to score 14 points on 4-7 shooting and added five rebounds and a steal in just 12 minutes for the Engineers, while Strauf matched her with 14 points in addition to three rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Siena Smith dropped in 13 points on 5-9 from the field, while pulling down seven rebounds, dishing out an assist and coming up with a steal.

Sophomore forward Regan Keyter  netted a career-high 18 points on 7-11 from the floor to go with three blocks, two rebounds and an assist for the Lyons, while junior guard Abby Fernandez contributed with 12 points, three rebounds and a game-high six assists and sophomore forward Nasha Arnold chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and an assist.

Keyter drilled a three-pointer to cap a 9-2 run to pull Wheaton even at 63-63 with 1:55 to play in the game. The trifecta was the last set of points of the night for the Lyons as RPI scored the final seven points to come away with the victory.

The Engineers jumped out to a 7-3 first quarter lead with 6:34 showing on the clock. Wheaton put together an 11-2 stretch, including four points from Arnold, to take a 14-9 margin with 2:45 remaining in the period. Hormazabal converted a driving lay-up for RPI with four ticks left on the first quarter clock to cut the deficit to a point (18-17) heading into the second period. 

The Lyons stretched their lead to 23-17 after first year guard Tatum Young knocked down her first collegiate triple with 7:10 to go in the second quarter. A jumper from sophomore guard Kiki Walters just 61 seconds later gave the home team its biggest lead of the night at 27-20. Wheaton maintained a 32-25 cushion following a trey from Keyter with 4:10 showing in the quarter. 

RPI closed to within a three-point field goal after Smith got a layup to fall at the 1:41 mark to make it 32-29. Stauf kept it a three-point game after sticking a turn-around jumper as time expired in the opening half of play. The Lyons took a 34-31 margin into the intermission.

Fernandes canned both free throws to give Wheaton a 43-38 lead with 5:56 remaining in the third quarter, before the Engineers ripped off seven straight points, including four from graduate student forward Rebecca Gregg (Henrietta, N.Y.), to take a 45-43 lead with 3:40 left in the period. The Lyons responded with five unanswered points, including three from the free throw line from Walters, to take a 48-45 lead with 2:46 showing in the quarter. 

RPI regrouped and closed out the quarter with a 10-2 blitz, including six points from first year guard Sophie Costello, to take a 55-50 margin into the final period of play.

First year guard Emilia Rojik later made a layup to give the visitors their largest lead of the contest at 59-52. Strauf drained a pair of free throws to maintain the margin at 61-54 with 4:19 to play in the game, before Wheaton pulled even at 63-63.

The Engineers will take on Western New England University, a 67-53 winner over Rivier University, in tomorrow's tournament title game at 3:00 p.m., while the Lyons host Rivier at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation contest.