ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's basketball team (19-5, 13-3 Liberty League) used a strong second half effort, especially on defense, pulling away for a 68-54 victory over William Smith (10-13, 8-7 Liberty League) at Clark Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

The win, combined with a Clarkson loss to St. Lawrence, puts the Tigers into a first place tie in the conference standings with a game to go. Clarkson does hold the tie-breaker. RIT will host its first ever postseason contest at Clark Gym next Wednesday, Feb. 24.

All nine players who played scored for the Tigers, as Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) led the way with 18 points. Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) added 11 points, while Maria Edwards (Forrest Hill, MD/The Carroll School), Amanda Olsen (Glen Mills, PA/Archmere Academy), and Kara Birrell (Keego Harbor, MI/Walled Lake) each added eight. RIT shot 43 percent from the field in the contest.

Courtney Chase scored 14 points to lead the Herons. Melanie Patterson scored 13, while Gabrielle Eure added 10. The Tigers held William Smith to 27 percent shooting from the field, including just 19.4 percent in the second half. RIT won despite getting out-rebounded, 51-40, including 25 Heron offensive rebounds. 

"We played much better in the second half, holding them to 20 points," said RIT women's basketball head coach Amy Reed. "We also had very strong guard play with Maria (Edwards) and Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy), and Kara (BIrrell) hit some big shots for us. We wanted to have a home playoff game, and we took care of business with this win tonight."

The Tigers started hot in front of the home crowd, opening the game on a 13-4 run. RIT pushed the lead to as high as 12 in the first quarter, before the Herons battled back to bring the game to 21-15, with 37 seconds remaining. With the clock ticking down in the period, Okada threw a cross court pass to Kara Birrell (Keego Harbor, MI/Walled Lake) at the wing, who hit a big 3-pointer to end the quarter.

In the second period, William Smith battled back, taking a brief 32-31 lead on a lay-in by Eure. A Lynch turnaround in the low post, along with a basket from Amanda Olsen (Glen Mills, PA/Archmere Academy), spurred the Tigers the 37-34 halftime lead.

The Tigers took over from there, using a 13-2 run to pull away in the third quarter, bringing the lead once again to double digits. RIT would hold the Herons to nine fourth-quarter points to secure the victory.

With the win, the Tigers have won four straight games against the Herons.

The Tigers will close the regular season with a road contest against Union on Sunday at 3 p.m.