LOS ANGELES, CA — The RIT women's basketball team (2-0) used a big run to open the game and held on for a 60-58 victory against host Occidental College at the Occidental Tournament (1-1) on Saturday night.
 
RIT opened the game on a 16-0 run and led by as much as 20 during the game, while taking a 30-13 lead into halftime. Occidental came back and outscored RIT 45-30 in the second half, but the Tigers held on for the win in the final seconds.
 
"It was a tale of two halves for us and we were fortunate to win," said RIT head coach Amy Reed. "Credit to Occidental for outworking us, especially on the glass. We just never really got into a flow offensively in the second half. We will take the win but we have a lot of work to do."
 
RIT had three players finish in double digits, as Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) and Ashlynn Palmitesso (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) both posted 14 points, and Amanda Olsen (Glen Mills, PA/Archmere Academy) had 10. Palmitesso was 6-of-7 from the field. Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) (nine points), Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) (eight points), and Emily Nunez (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills) (five points) also added to the scoring for RIT.
 
For Occidental, Erin Matsumoto led all players on the floor with 15 points, while Emily Leonard and Shariah Green had nine points each.
 
Occidental won the battle of the boards, 44-25, while RIT had 12 assists, compared to nine for Occidental. RIT shot 50 percent (23-for-46) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (5-for-15) from 3-point range. Occidental finished shooting 33.9 percent (19-for-56) and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc (5-for-19).
 
RIT opened the game on a 16-0 run, where the Tigers shot almost 85 percent from the field. The Tigers finished the opening quarter up 22-4, hitting 78.6 percent of their shots from the floor. The Tigers got 10 boards and eight points of turnovers in the first quarter alone.
 
RIT continued to hit its shots in the second quarter, taking a 30-13 lead into halftime. Palmitesso led all players on the floor with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting in the opening half, while Nunez and Glaz had five points each.
 
Occidental turned it on in the second half, shooting 56 percent (14-for-25) and hitting four of eight (50 percent) threes. Matsumoto hit a 3-pointer to get the game within two points with four seconds left, but RIT held Occidental from having any chance to tie or win the game.
 
RIT plays again on Sunday, in the second game of the Occidental College Tournament in Los Angeles. RIT and Whittier College are set to tip off at 6 p.m.