POUGHKEEPSIE, NY -- The RIT (8-3, 1-2 Liberty League) women's basketball team lost 83-72 at Vassar (5-7, 2-1 Liberty League) in a critical early-season Liberty League game Friday evening. The loss is the third straight overall for the Tigers and second straight in league play. Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) scored a career-high 32 points in a losing effort.

RIT shot 40.0 percent from the floor on 26-of-45 shooting. The Tigers went 4-of-20 from behind the arc, but were an impressive 16-of-18 from the foul line. Okada became the second player to reach the 30-point plateau this season, with 32 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the floor. She made 8-of-9 free throws, and had four assists, two steals and three rebounds. Taylor Burns (Rochester, NY/Greece Odyssey), Julia Bender (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) and Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) each scored nine points for the Tigers. 

Ariella Rosenthal led Vassar with 19 points, while Sophie Nick added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Isa Peczuh chipped in 15 points, and Nicole Teta scored 12 for the Brewers, who shot 50.9 percent from the floor.

RIT led by seven early in the first quarter on an Okada jumper at the 7:21 mark. The Tigers ran off five straight points, including a 3-pointer from Burns to take an early lead. The Tigers led until a Teta layup with 5:07 to play gave Vassar an 11-10 lead. Emily Nunez (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills) drained a 3-pointer with 1:15 to play in the quarter to increase the RIT lead to 17-13. Jackie Cenan converted an old fashioned 3-point play late in the quarter to make it a 17-16 RIT lead.

In the second quarter, Rosenthal nailed a 3-pointer with 6:14 to play to give Vassar a 24-21 lead. A pair of Glaz free throws, and a Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) layup gave the Tigers a 25-24 lead with 3:23 to play in the half. Nick gave the Brewers a 31-28 lead late in the half, but RIT rallied, as Okada scored four straight points for RIT, giving the Tigers a 32-31 advantage, but Rosenthal struck again late in the quarter, scoring with 23 seconds to play to give Vassar a 33-32 halftime lead.

Vassar took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring RIT 26-16. Peczuh gave the Brewers a 55-42 lead, their largest lead of the game to that point with her bucket with 1:41 to play in the quarter. A pair of Okada free throws with two seconds remaining cut the Vassar lead to 59-48 heading into the fourth quarter.

RIT battled back to within six points early in the fourth quarter when Whitney Kent (Hinsdale, NY/Cuba-Rushford) drained a jumper to cut the Brewers lead to 60-54. After Vassar increased the lead back to 10 points, Glaz and Okada scored four straight points for RIT, making the score 66-60 with three minutes to play. Six points would be as close as the Tigers would get, as Vassar made key buckets down the stretch to hold on.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 when the Tigers face Bard College at 2 p.m. at Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.