ROCHESTER, NY – The No. 23 RIT women's basketball team (12-4, 5-2 Liberty League) came back in the fourth quarter to beat Vassar College (3-11, 1-5 Liberty League) 65-62 in Liberty League-action from Clark Gymnasium on Friday evening. It is the first time the Tigers have beaten the Brewers in nine tries.
 
RIT shot 39.7 percent from the floor on 27-of-68 shooting. The Tigers went 4-of-13 from 3-point land, and went 7-of-10 from the foul line. Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) led the Tigers with a career-high 28 points. Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) added 14 points and led the Tigers with nine rebounds. Julia Bender (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) tallied six points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists.

"I thought we made significant defensive strides tonight," said RIT head coach Amy Reed. "It is what we focused on all week and I thought we defended very well."

Caitlin Drakeley led Vassar with 15 points, while Arielle Rosenthal added 13 points for Vassar who shot 38.6 percent from the floor.

In a tightly contest first half, Vassar took a 32-29 lead into the locker room. The Tigers shot 43.3 percent in the first half on 12-of-35 shooting. The Tigers made just 1-of-7 from behind the arc and were out rebounded by the Brewers 26-19. Glaz led the Tigers with nine points, while Lynch added eight points and five rebounds.

The third quarter saw Vassar open up an eight-point lead on a pair of free throws from Rose Serafini with 7:15 to play. The Brewers maintained the lead until late in the quarter when Taylor Burns (Rochester, NY/Greece Odyssey) drained a three with 15 seconds to play, cutting the Vassar lead to 46-43.

RIT came to life in the fourth quarter, tallying 22 points. A steal and layup by Glaz with 6:59 to play tied the score at 50-50. Her free throw with 6:32 to play gave RIT its first lead since early in the contest.

"Jess (Glaz) was huge tonight and Maria (Edwards) made a great play down at the end of the game," said Reed. "We beat a very good team in a league that has the most parity I have seen since Ive been a part of the conference."

Drakely got the Brewers within one with 18 seconds to play on her jumper off an assist from Rosenthal making it 63-62 RIT. Drakely had a chance with time running out, but Maria Edwards (Forrest Hill, MD/The Carroll School) stole the ball from her and fed Glaz who scored with one second to play making it a 65-62 final.

Vassar held a 46-41 rebounding edge, while RIT committed just nine turnovers.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 23 when the Tigers host Bard College at 2 p.m. on the floor of Clark Gym.