SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The RIT (21-5) women's basketball team will play for the right to defend its Liberty League title after a 68-61 win over Ithaca College (20-7) in the Liberty League Tournament Semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Skidmore College. The No. 2 Tigers will face No. 1 seed Skidmore College in the title game tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. RIT set a single-season record with its 21st win of the season.

RIT shot 45.0 percent from the floor on 27-of-60 shooting. The Tigers went just 4-of-14 from beyond the arc, but made 10-of-13 from the foul line. Five Tigers scored in double figures, combining for 66 of the 68 points. Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) and Amanda Olsen (Glen Mills, PA/Archmere Academy) led the Tigers with 15 points apiece. Olsen had a double-double, finishing with 12 rebounds. Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) tallied 13 points, while Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) added 12 points, and Sabrina Wolfe (Troy, NY/Troy) scored 11.

Cassidy O'Malley led Ithaca with 16 points, while Julie Yacovani tallied 12 points and added 13 rebounds for the Bombers, who shot 34.8 percent from the floor.

RIT led 18-14 after the first quarter, and 38-26 at halftime. The Tigers outscored Ithaca 20-12 in the second quarter to open up a 12-point advantage. The Tigers shot 45.7 percent from the floor in the first half on 16-of-35 shooting. Olsen led RIT with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while grabbing nine rebounds.

The Tigers extended their lead to 15 points early in the third quarter. Glaz converted a layup at the 5:24 mark to give RIT a 45-30 lead.

Ithaca responded, cutting the RIT lead to 47-40 with 4:14 to play in the third quarter on her bucket off an assist from Yacovani. She cut the Tigers lead to 47-44 on her bucket with 3:05 to play in the quarter.

A Sara Jackson 3-pointer gave Ithaca a 49-48 lead late in the third quarter. Giannone scored with two second to play in the quarter to extend the Ithaca lead to 51-48 heading into the fourth quarter. The Bombers outscored RIT 25-10 in the quarter.

Yacovani made it 53-49 Ithaca on her bucket to open play in the fourth quarter. Lynch broke the scoreless drought for RIT, scoring on the Tigers next possession to cut the lead to 53-50. Lynch converted a pair of free throws to give RIT a 54-53 lead, but Pickell scored to make it 55-54 Ithaca. Glaz answered back, giving RIT a 56-55 lead with 5:22 to play off an assist from Wolfe.

Olsen extended the RIT lead to 58-55 with her bucket, and an Okada jumper with 2:57 to play gave the Tigers a 62-55 lead. That bucket capped off an 8-0 spurt by the Tigers.

Pickell stopped the RIT run with her bucket off an assist from Yacovani with 2:20 to play in regulation. After another Okada basket gave RIT a 64-57 lead, O'Malley scored for the Bombers with 1:50 to play to cut the RIT lead to 64-59. Okada scored with 58 seconds to play off a feed from Olsen to extend the RIT lead to 66-59. Pickell made two free throws to cut the lead to 66-61 with 17 seconds remaining, but Lynch drained two free throws to make it a 68-61 final.

RIT wins the season-series with Ithaca 2-1 and earns a measure of revenge after the Bombers eliminated RIT in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers have made the Liberty League Tournament each of the last three years, advancing to the title game in each of those seasons. The winner of Sunday's title game will earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. RIT and Skidmore split the regular season series, 1-1.