POTSDAM, NY -- A furious fourth quarter comeback fell short on Saturday, as the RIT (10-7, 3-5 Liberty League) women's basketball team lost 80-77 at Clarkson University (9-8, 4-4 Liberty League) in Liberty League action.

The Tigers trailed by 12 points with 5:54 to play in regulation, but came back to tie the game at 69-69 with 2:38 to play in regulation. An Abby Judd (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) layup with 2:38 to play tied the game at 69-69. That capped off a 14-2 run by the Tigers to get back in the game. 

RIT shot 41.7 percent on 25-of-60 shooting. The Tigers went 7-of-22 from behind the arc, and went 20-of-33 from the foul line. Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) led RIT with 25 points, including 23 in the second half. She scored nine of RIT's 14 points in the run in the fourth quarter to pace the comeback. Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) added 14 points and seven rebounds, while Julia Bender (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Madison Shea led Clarkson with 23 points. Devin Sorrell tallied 19 points, while Stephanie Grobe chipped in 14 points for the Golden Knights who shot 49.2 percent from the floor.

Trailing 37-30 at the half, RIT fell behind by as many 17 points in the third quarter. Grobe's jumper with seven minutes remaining in the quarter gave Clarkson a 51-34 lead. A pair of Bender free throws with 23 seconds remaining in the quarter cut the Clarkson lead to 60-49.

Shea gave Clarkson a 62-51 lead early in the fourth quarter with her jumper at the 7:54 mark. Lynch pulled RIT to within seven points with her jumper off an assist from Bender to cut the lead 62-55.

Clarkson rattled off five straight points, taking a 67-55 lead on a bucket by Shea with 5:54 to play. RIT found a way to claw back in the game. Okada scored with 4:11 to play to cut the Clarkson lead to 69-64. Another Okada 3-pointer with 3:14 to play off an assist from Lynch to cut the lead to 69-67. Judd's bucket with 2:38 to play capped off the run and tied the score at 69-69.

A pair of Shea free throws with 54 seconds to play extended the Clarkson lead to 75-71. Okada was not done however, as she drained a  3-pointer on RIT's next possession to cut the lead to 75-74 with 53 seconds to play.

After Shea made 1-of-2 free throws with 19 seconds left gave Clarkson a 78-74 lead. Again, Okada struck back for RIT. She converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 14 seconds to play to cut the lead to 78-77. Clarkson hit one free throw on the ensuing possession, allowing the Tigers a chance to tie, but they came up just short.

Today's game was a rematch of the 2016 Liberty League championship game that Clarkson won 65-63.

RIT returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 24 when the Tigers host William Smith College at 6 p.m. on the floor of Clark Gymnasium.