CANTON, NY -- Despite a valiant effort, the No. 4 seed RIT (14-12) women's basketball team was defeated 65-52 at No. 1 seed St. Lawrence University (19-7) in the Liberty League Semifinals pn Wednesday evening from Canton, N.Y. It was the first appearance by RIT in the Liberty League Tournament since joining the league in 2011-12.

Kayla Wheeler (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) led RIT with 13 points and five rebounds in her final game in a RIT jersey. Classmate Courtney Tennant (Cortland, NY/Cortland) tallied nine points and grabbed nine rebounds. Fellow seniors Mallory Apperson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) tallied four points, while Jess Kramer (Fayetteville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) scored two points.

RIT shot 28.6 percent from the floor on 18-of-63 shooting. The Tigers shot 3-for-20 from behind the arc, and were 13-of-16 from the foul line.

In a tightly contested first half, RIT found itself down 25-24 at the break. A jumper by Sarah Wolcott (Cohocton, NY/Wayland-Cohocton) with 10 seconds to play in the half cut the Saints lead to a single point. The Tigers shot 8-of-32 (25%) from the floor led by Ashlynn Palmitesso (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) and Wheeler who each scored five points.

A quick 4-0 burst by St. Lawrence in the opening 1:36 of the second half gave the Saints a 29-24 lead.

Apperson cut the Saints lead to 29-26 with 17:07 to play with a layup off a nice assist from Wolcott.

A layup by Allison Cady with 15:58 to play gave St. Lawrence its largest lead of the game to that point at 31-26.

RIT responded with a 4-0 mini-run with a pair of free throws by Pamitesso and a layup by Wolcott with 14:33 to play in regulation. Palmitesso finished with 11 points, while Wolcott added six points and had eight rebounds.

The Saints increased its lead to 49-41 with 5:21 to play on a layup by Kara McDuffee, who led St. Lawrence with 18 points. Tennant's layup with 2:18 to play cut the Saints' lead to 55-50. She scored off an assist by Maria Edwards (Forrest Hill, MD/The Carroll School) to make it a two possession game.

Kelly Legg answered back for St. Lawrence on its very next possession, draining a three pointer with 1:59 to play, giving the Saints a 58-50 lead.

The Tigers went cold from the field down the stretch, while St. Lawrence converted its free throws. St. Lawrence will host Vassar College in the Liberty League Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The 14 wins by the Tigers are the second-most in program history and most wins since the 2006-07 season when the Tigers finished 15-12.