ROCHESTER, NY -- The RIT (17-4, 11-3 Liberty League) women's basketball team had its six-game winning streak snapped with a 71-67 loss to Ithaca College (15-6, 10-4 Liberty League) Tuesday evening from Clark Gym. Junior
Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) became the ninth player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
Lynch, who led the Tigers with 22 points, scored her 1,000th career point on a jumper with 7:27 left in the third quarter that cut Ithaca's lead to 44-42. She now has 1,010 career points in 75 games.
RIT shot 40.4 percent from the floor on 23-of-57 shooting. The Tigers made 6-of-19 from beyond the arc, and went 15-of-22 from the foul line. Lynch shot 8-of-14 from the floor and 6-for-7 from the foul line and added eight rebounds.
Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) chipped in 16 points, while
Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) tallied 14 points and four assists.
Brooke Stanley (Minnetonka, MN/Benilde-St. Margaret's) added nine points and five boards.
Cassidy O'Malley led Ithaca with 23 points and three blocks. Meghan Pickell tallied 19 points, while Julie Yacovani grabbed 14 rebounds for the Bombers, who shot 43.9 percent from the floor.
The Bombers led 22-19 after one quarter of play and 39-34 at the half, before RIT came out firing in the third quarter, out-scoring Ithaca, 22-14 in the third quarter to take a 56-53 lead.
Ithaca scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to lead 58-56 before RIT rallied. Okada hit a jumper with 3:19 left that gave the Tigers their last lead of the night, 64-62. Pickell and Allie Tunick drained consecutive 3-pointers on Ithaca's next two possessions to give the Bombers a 68-64 lead. RIT responded, cutting the Ithaca lead to 68-67 with 31 seconds left. O'Malley drained two free throws to up the Bombers lead to 70-67 eight seconds later. RIT had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but could not convert.
Despite the loss, RIT (11-3) holds a one-game lead in the Liberty League standings over Ithaca, Vassar and Skidmore, who are all 10-4.
RIT returns to action on Friday, Feb. 9 when the Tigers play at Vassar College at 6 p.m. The Tigers are also in action Saturday afternoon at Skidmore.