CLINTON, NY – Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton), Julia Bender (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas), and Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) scored 18 points apiece as the RIT women's basketball team (3-0) rebounded from a slow start, winning its third straight game in a victory over Hamilton (0-1) 64-56 on Friday evening.
 
Lynch nearly had a double-double as she finished with nine rebounds, going 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Okada led the Tiger offense, finishing with a team-high three assists. Bender's 18 points was a career-high, as she made 7-of-9 shots from the charity stripe, and 5-for-11 from the field.
 
For Hamilton, Lauren Getman notched a double-double, finishing with 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds on 6-for-15 shooting.
 
RIT was aggressive as they tried to come back from the early deficit, going 24-for-33 from the line to offset shooting 18 percent (2-for-11) from 3-point range. With the victory, the Tigers have their best start since the 2006-07 season, when they started the season 6-1 en route to a 15-12 record, the best finish in program history.
 
The Tigers had trouble making shots in the beginning of the game, missing their first four shots in 3:50.  The first basket came from Lynch, after falling behind 7-0.

The Tigers started to crawl back, as a pair of free throws from Okada and Taylor Burns (Rochester, NY/Greece Odyssey) led a 5-0 RIT run to end the quarter with Hamilton leading 19-14.
 
In the second quarter, RIT threatened to take the lead. Consecutive layups by Lynch, and a Burns free throw knotted the game at 23. But Hamilton stayed composed, as Claire Hebb hit a buzzer beater, giving the Continentals a three-point lead, 29-26 at the half.
 
The second half was close, as Hamilton answered every Tiger basket down the stretch. RIT was finally able to complete the comeback with 3:48 left in the third quarter, as Okada free throws gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, at 38-36. After trading leads, RIT finished the third on a 7-2 run, taking a 47-44 lead into the fourth.
 
From there, the Tigers started to take control. After Hamilton brought the game back to a one point deficit at 52-51, RIT pulled away, as a layup by Abby Judd (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) and a 3-pointer by Okada put the game out of reach. Okada scored seven of the team's final eight points to seal the victory.
 
The Tigers will take a holiday break, resuming action on Dec. 1, as they play in the 50th annual Wendy's College Classic. Tip-off, opponent, and location will be determined at a later date.