GENEVA, NY – The RIT (12-12, 6-9 Liberty League) women's basketball team defeated William Smith College (4-19, 3-12 Liberty League) 88-77 in overtime in Liberty League action Wednesday evening. The Tigers outscored the Herons 21-10 in the overtime, and had four players scoring in double figures.

RIT shot 42.3 percent from the floor on 30-of-71 shooting. The Tigers made 5-of-19 from behind the arc and went an impressive 23-of-26 from the foul line. Ashlynn Palmitesso (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) led RIT with 24 points, going 6-of-8 from the foul line. Freshman Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) tallied a career-high 23 points, while Sarah Wolcott (Cohocton, NY/Wayland-Cohocton) chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds. Merissa Maiorano (Rochester, NY/Pittsford Mendon) finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Chloe Hayter led William Smith with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Courtney Chase and Melanie Patterson each scored 18 for the Herons who shot 37.3 percent from the floor.
 
RIT led by as many as nine points in the first half, taking a 20-11 lead on a pair of Palmitesso free throws. William Smith outscored the Tigers 21-12 over the final 10:43 to take a 35-32 lead into halftime. Palmitesso cut the Heron's lead to three with her jumper with 34 seconds to play.

The Tigers shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the opening half led by Palmitesso and her 11 points. Hayter led William Smith with 11 points.

William Smith continued to lead into the second half until a Glaz 3-pointer at the 16:45 mark tied the score at 41-41. She drained a second straight three on RIT's very next possession giving RIT a 44-41 lead.

RIT would hold the lead until the 15:32 mark when Ali Pliszka hit a three off a feed from Patterson, tying the score at 46-46. Chase gave the Herons a 48-46 lead with her bucket with 14:53 to play.

William Smith's took a four-point lead with 8:54 to play on a 3-pointer from Patterson. That would be the largest lead either team would enjoy in a highly contested second half that featured six ties and seven lead changes.

Trailing by four, RIT got consecutive buckets from Maiorano and Wolcott, tying the score at 59-59 with 6:50 to play. Maiorano gave the Tigers a 61-59 lead with 5:23 to play, capping off a 6-0 mini-run by the Tigers.

A Patterson three with 4:07 to play gave the lead back to William Smith, 65-63. After several empty possessions by both teams, Sydney Frank (Haverford, PA/Friends' Central) made a pair of free throws, tying the score at 65-65 with 2:19 to play. She finished with nine points, going 6-of-6 from the foul line.

Chase answered for the Herons, making a pair of free throws with 1:32 to play, giving William Smith a 67-65 lead. After a timeout, Palmitesso drove to the lane and laid the ball in, tying the score at 67-67 with 21 seconds to play. Both teams had chances go awry in the closing seconds sending the game into overtime.

In the overtime, RIT came out firing, scoring the first five points, taking a 72-67 lead on a 3-pointer from Glaz off a feed from Maiorano. The Tigers opened the overtime on a 9-2 run as Glaz scored five of the Tigers nine points in the run.

RIT took its largest lead of the game on a free throw from Glaz with 1:01 to play in the overtime. She scored 21 of her 23 points in the second half and overtime, including 10 points in the extra session.

RIT scored 21 points off of 20 William Smith turnovers, and tallied 26 points in the paint. The 88 points scored is a season-high for the Tigers. RIT swept the season series with William Smith.

RIT closes out the 2014-15 season on Friday, Feb. 20 when the Tigers host Liberty League foe Union College at 6 p.m. on the floor of Clark Gym. RIT will honor its senior class prior to tip-off.