TROY, NY — The RIT (8-0, 1-0 Liberty League) women's basketball team began Liberty League play Friday afternoon with a 58-48 win at Rensselaer (5-5, 0-1 Liberty League). The Tigers improve to 8-0 overall, continuing their best start in program history.

RIT featured two players with double-doubles. Julia Bender (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) tallied 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) finished with 10 points, 14 rebounds, and two steals. Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) led the Tigers with 13 points, while Bender and Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) each had two assists.

RIT led 16-10 after the first quarter. Okada and Glaz combined to score 10 of RIT's 16 points. Okada tallied six points, while Glaz added four.

Rensselaer scored the first five points of the second quarter, pulling to within 16-15 on a bucket by Ines Ortea at the 6:15 mark of the quarter. RPI outscored the Tigers 15-10 in the quarter, as RIT took a slim 26-25 lead into halftime.

Lynch led RIT with seven first-half points, while Okada finished with six points. Taylor Burns (Rochester, NY/Greece Odyssey) came off the bench to score five points for RIT, who shot just 24.3 percent from the floor in the first half.

Rensselaer tied the score twice in the early moments of the third quarter. Elizabeth Ekhardt tied the score at 30-30 on her layup at the 7:57 mark. The Tigers answered with seven straight points, taking a 37-30 lead on a bucket by Julia Bender (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas). Okada started the run with a 3-pointer, then Lynch added a layup, before Bender's tally.

RIT led by as many as eight points in the third quarter, but a mini-run by the Engineers cut the lead to 39-36 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Leading 42-40 in the fourth quarter, a bucket by Jessica Shields (Lyons, NY/Newark) and 3-pointer by Brooke Stanley (Minnetonka, MN/St. Margaret's) extended the Tigers lead to seven points with 6:10 to play. After the Engineers cut the lead to 47-42, Bender drained a clutch 3-pointer from the corner off an assist from Ashlynn Palmitesso (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley) to make it 50-42 RIT.

Ekhardt scored with 1:43 remaining to make it 50-46 RIT, but Palmitesso answered with a big jumper and the Tigers made their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win. The Tigers held a 59-52 rebounding edge, despite shooting just 28.8 percent from the floor.

"We allowed too many offensive rebounds in the first half," said head coach Amy Reed. "We emphasized rebounding and letting our defense dictate our offense at halftime. We had some players step up big off the bench for us in key moments."

RIT returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 31 at Skidmore College. Tip-off in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. is at 2 p.m.