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GENEVA, NY -- The RIT women's basketball team (8-10, 4-5 LL) led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but could not hold on, losing to William Smith College 67-63 in a key Liberty League contest from Bristol Gym on Tuesday night. The loss drops the Tigers out of a three-way tie for fourth in the conference with a 4-5 record.
RIT led by as many as 13 points early in the second half, but a big run by the Herons late in the half propelled them to the win. Sydni Salvatore's layup with 2:10 to play gave William Smith its first lead of the game.
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Leslie Havens (Wayland, NY/Wayland-Cohocton)# gave RIT its largest lead of the game on a layup with 17:29 to play in the second half at 45-32 .
Havens' layup with :26 to play cut the Herons lead to two at 61-59. After a #
Sarah Wolcott (Cohocton, NY/Wayland-Cohocton)# foul stopped the clock, Jamie Rubin drained both free throws the make it a four-point William Smith lead. RIT would not go away, as #
Jackie Hom (Newton, MA/Newton South)#, who finished with 14 points, came down and drained a jumper with 18 seconds to play to make it a 63-61 lead for the Herons.
After another Wolcott foul stopped the clock, Rubin calmly drained the ensuing free throws to move the William Smith lead back to four points at 67-63, then RIT missed a three pointer with time running out.
The Herons outscored RIT 35-18 over the final 17:29 to hand the Tigers the loss.
Havens led the Tigers with 23 points, including 15 in the first half. She was 11-of-16 from the floor and had nine rebounds. Hom finished with 14 points and six assists, while #
Alex Kelley (Rochester, NY/Brighton)# came off the bench to score 10 points for the Tigers.
RIT jumped out to a 4-0 lead getting two quick buckets from Havens. With the score tied at 12-12, the Tigers went on a 13-4 run, building a nine point lead on a bucket by Kelley. The Tigers led by nine on three different occasions in the first half, leading by seven at the break.
RIT shot 51.8 percent from the floor on 29-of-56 shooting. The Tigers were 1-of-5 from behind the arc, and were outrebounded by William Smith 37-27.
The Tigers return to action on Friday, Feb. 2 when they travel north to play Clarkson University at 6 p.m.
