Women's Basketball | 2/21/2017 11:29:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women's basketball team will play in the Liberty League Tournament for the second straight season beginning Wednesday, Feb. 22. The No. 3 seed Tigers play at No. 2 seed William Smith College in one semifinal at 7 p.m. The winner will face the victor between No. 1 Skidmore and No. 4 Clarkson in the title game on Saturday, Feb. 25 at the highest remaining seed.

RIT comes into Wednesday 17-8 overall and finished third in the Liberty League standings with a 10-6 conference record. RIT started the season with eight straight wins, and enters the tournament 7-1 over its last eight games. William Smith enters Wednesday 17-8 overall and was second in the league standings with an 11-5 record.

The Herons hold a 26-7 record all time versus RIT. The Tigers won both regular season meetings, 71-59 on Jan. 24, and 79-50 last Tuesday. Coming into Wednesday, RIT has won six straight games versus William Smith. The Herons last win came on Feb. 4, 2014. Last week, RIT defeated the Herons 79-50 in Geneva, N.Y. Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) led the Tigers with 18 points, while Taylor Burns (Rochester, NY/Greece Odyssey) tallied 16 points and Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) added 15 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
 
RIT comes into the tournament first in the league in scoring, averaging 73.1 points per game. The Tigers lead the league in field goal percentage (43.2 percent), 3-point shooting percentage (34.8%), and are first in 3-point field goals made, averaging 6.6 per contest. RIT is fifth in the league, averaging 40.6 rebounds per game, and fourth allowing 59.7 points per game.

Okada leads the team and is sixth in the Liberty League in scoring, averaging 13.9 points per game. She leads the league, averaging 4.5 assists per game and is second in the league shooting 47.7 percent from the floor, which ranks second.

Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) is seventh in the league in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per game. She is shooting a league-best 50.2 percent from the floor. Glaz is third on the team and eighth in the league averaging 12.6 points per game. She is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers per game and is second among league players with 45 made 3-pointers this season.

William Smith comes into Wednesday second in the league in scoring, averaging 67.4 points per game, and is eighth defensively, allowing 62.1 points per game. The Herons are third in the league in field goal percentage (39.0 percent) and fourth in rebounding (41.5 caroms per game).

Mia Morrison leads William Smith and is fourth in the Liberty League in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. She is fourth in the league, shooting 42.2 percent from the floor and seventh in rebounding, averaging 7.2 caroms per contest. Melanie Patterson is second on the team and fifth in the conference in scoring, averaging 14.1 points per game. She is fourth in assists, dishing out 3.1 per game, and fifth in field goal percentage, shooting 40.9 percent from the floor.

Wednesday will be the third meeting between RIT and William Smith this season, and second in eight days. Last season, RIT defeated Union in the Liberty League Semifinal before coming up a bucket short 65-63 at Clarkson in the championship. The Tigers are looking for their first league title.