POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — The RIT (18-4, 12-3 Liberty League) women's basketball team won a critical Liberty League game Friday, defeating Vassar College (15-7, 10-5 Liberty League) 58-54. With the win, the Tigers remain alone atop the Liberty League standings.

The Tigers outscored Vassar 47-22 in the second and fourth quarters, including 22-14 in the fourth. RIT shot 35.6 percent from the floor on 21-of-59 shooting. The Tigers went 4-of-18 from beyond the arc, and made 12-of-15 from the foul line. 

Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) led the Tigers with 18 points, including 13 in the first half. Jessica Glaz (Rockaway Beach, NY/Scholars Academy) tallied 13 points and had eight rebounds. Sydney Frank (Haverford, PA/Friends' Central) and Abby Judd (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) each chipped in nine points. Frank added four assists and six rebounds, while Judd grabbed five rebounds.

Sophie Nick led Vassar with 13 points. Kim Romanoff and Maeve Sussman each tallied 12 points for the Brewers, while Sussman led the Brewers with nine rebounds.  

RIT trailed 6-0 early, but stormed back, outscoring Vassar 31-10 over the remainder of the first half, including 25-8 in the second quarter. Okada gave the Tigers their first lead with her 3-pointer at the 9:28 mark of the second quarter. RIT would score the first nine points of the second quarter, taking a 15-8 lead on a layup by Okada with 6:52 to play in the half.

Glaz gave RIT its largest lead of the half with her bucket with 1:48 to play in the half to give the Tigers a 27-12 advantage. Judd matched RIT's largest lead with her basket 1:09 from halftime. Frank scored late for RIT to give the Tigers a 31-16 halftime lead.

RIT shot 46.4 percent from the floor in the first half. The Tigers went 13-of-28 from the field, including there three-pointers. Okada led RIT with 13 points. Glaz tallied seven points and had six rebounds. 

Vassar came all the way back in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 24-5. Sussman tied the game at 36-36 with her three-pointer with 1:55 to play in the quarter. Maddie Leong gave the Brewers the lead with her jumper with 1:23 to play, and Romanoff extended the Vassar lead to 40-36 with her bucket inside the final minute.

Sussman extended the Vassar lead to six points with a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter. Okada tallied five straight points for RIT, including a jumper at the 8:51 mark to cut the Vassar lead to 42-41.

Glaz gave RIT the lead when she converted two free throws at the 7:17 mark. After a quick Vassar run, Sabrina Wolfe (Troy, NY/Troy) gave RIT the lead for good on a free throw with 4:57 to play. She extended the lead to 53-49 on her layup with 4:33 to play. 

Glaz converted two free throws with 3:26 to play, extending the RIT lead to 57-49. Vassar responded, cutting the RIT lead to 57-54 on a layup by Nick with 47 seconds remaining. Jessica Shields (Lyons, NY/Newark) converted the second of two free throws with 20 seconds remaining to make it a 58-54 final.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 10 when the Tigers face Skidmore College at 2 p.m. in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.