PITTSFORD, NY – The RIT (5-2) women's basketball team finished fifth in the 22nd Annual Wendy's College Classic, defeating The College at Brockport (2-4), 67-61 on Saturday afternoon from Kidera Gymnasium on the campus of Nazareth College. The fifth place finish is the best finish for the Tigers since finishing fourth in 2011.

Freshman Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) led RIT with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers. She also had three rebounds, four assists and two steals. Merissa Maiorano (Rochester, NY/Pittsford Mendon) added 13 points nine rebounds, seven assists and a block, while Julia Bender (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) chipped in nine points and Sarah Wolcott (Cohocton, NY/Wayland-Cohocton) and Maria Edwards (Forrest Hill, MD/The John Carroll School) each tallied eight points..

RIT shot 42.6 percent from the floor for the game on 26-of-61 shooting. The Tigers made 7-of-20 3-pointers and were 8-of-9 from the foul line.

RIT trailed throughout most of the first half, but never more than seven points. Trailing 24-17 with 6:13 to play in the opening half, the Tigers responded with a quick 7-0 burst, tying the score at 24-24 on a layup by Glaz with 3:56 to play. Brockport closed out the half on an 8-2 run, leading 32-28 at the break.

The Tigers shot 41.9 percent from the floor in the first half on 13-of-31 shooting. The Tigers made 2-of-8 from behind the arc and scored six points off of six Brockport turnovers. Maiorano led RIT with nine first-half points, while Glaz added six points.
 
RIT came out firing in the second half, opening with a 10-0 run. Edwards' three pointer at the 17:11 mark gave RIT its largest lead of the game to date at 38-32. Bender added a pair of buckets, while Glaz drained a three in the opening run for RIT.

The Tigers built their lead to nine points when Taylor Burns (Rochester, NY/Greece Odyssey) laid the ball in off an assist from Maiorano with 11:45 to play. Faith Welch pulled the Golden Eagles to within four points when she made a pair of free throws with 7:29 to play.

The Tigers were able to maintain their tenuous lead over the final 7:29, making free throws and key buckets. RIT went 8-of-9 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the win. Glaz had a big second half, tallying 15 of her 21 points.
 
"I thought our defense was the difference down the stretch," said RIT head coach Amy Reed. "We didn't allow them to get into an offense in the second half and made some big buckets in the second half."

RIT held a 38-32 rebounding edge, tallying 14 points in the paint. The Tigers capitalized defensively, tallying 16 points off of 16 Brockport turnovers.

It is RIT's second all-time win over Brockport. The Golden Eagles had won 17 of the previous 18 meetings between the two schools.

The Tigers will be back in action on Thursday, Dec. 11 to close out the 2014 calendar year against Houghton College at 6 p.m. at Clark Gym.