ITHACA, NY -- The No. 2 seed RIT (20-7) women's basketball team lost an overtime classic, 75-73 in overtime at top-seeded Ithaca College (22-5) Sunday afternoon in the 2019 Liberty League Championship. Ithaca's Annie Giannone scored the game-winning bucket with 3.3 seconds remaining in overtime to snap RIT's 12-game winning streak.

"The team played their hearts out today," said RIT head coach Amy Reed. "Ithaca gave us a great game, and it could have gone either way."

Just before Giannone's bucket, Cori Okada (Fullerton, CA/Troy) tied the game at 73-73 with a dramatic step-back 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to play. That erased a five-point deficit the Tigers were in with just 32 seconds to play.

Giannone gave the Bombers a 72-67 lead when she converted one-of-two free throws with 32 seconds to play. Brooke Stanley (Minnetonka, MN/Benilde-St. Margaret's) converted an old-fashioned 3-point play on a nice feed from Okada. She scored the bucket, and made the free throw to cut the Bombers lead to 72-70 with 24 seconds to play.

Grace Cannon converted one-of-two free throws that gave Ithaca a 73-70 lead with 23 seconds to play. Okada got the ball, stepped back and drained a deep 3-pointer, tying the game at 73-73. Giannone got the ball and drove into the lane, scoring on a lay up with 3.3 seconds to play to give the Bombers the win.

RIT shot 37.0 from the floor on 27-of-73 shooting. The Tigers made 15-of-16 from the foul line. Okada led RIT with a game-high 32 points, tying her career high. She added eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Brooke Stanley (Minnetonka, MN/Benilde-St. Margaret's) tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds, amd Tara Lynch (Green Township, NJ/Newton) chipped in 13 points. Sabrina Wolfe (Troy, NY/Troy) grabbed 13 rebounds to go along with seven points.

Meghan Pickell, named Liberty League Tournament Most Outstanding Player, led Ithaca with 23 points and eight rebounds. Cassidy O'Malley tallied 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Giannone finished with seven assists and six points.

RIT began the game on a 10-2 run, taking an early eight-point lead on a bucket by Lynch at the 6:10 mark. The Tigers took a 10-point lead late in the quarter on a jumper from Okada with 2:14 remaining. Ithaca closed the quarter on an 8-2 spurt to trail 19-15 after 10 minutes of play. Sara Jackson cut the Tigers lead to 19-15 on her 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Ithaca tied the game early in the second quarter on a layup from O'Malley at the 7:52 mark. Later in the quarter, Okada gave the Tigers a 27-22 lead on a pair of free throws with 3:45 to play in the half. Stanley gave RIT a 31-25 lead on her layup with 1:45 to play. O'Malley made one-of-two free throws with 1:28 remaining to make it 31-26 Tigers at the break.

RIT shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the first half. Okada led the Tigers with 13 points, while Stanley tallied eight poinrs. O'Malley led Ithaca with nine points. 

Lynch gave RIT a 35-28 lead 2:11 into the third quarter on her bucket off an assist from Alyssa Juergens (Rochester, NY/Hilton). Meghan Mazzella cut the RIT lead to two points on her layup at the 6:11 mark and gave the Bombers its first lead of the game on her jumper with 1:31 to play in the quarter. Megan Yawman extended the Bombers lead to 46-41 on her 3-pointer inside the final minute. Stanley and Lynch each scored inside the final 30 seconds of the quarter, including a bucket by Lynch off an Okada assist with one second on the clock to cut the Ithaca lead to 46-45.

That set up a wild fourth quarter with each team trading buckets. After an O'Malley free throw opened the quarter, Okada converted an old-fashioned three-point play, giving RIT a 48-47 lead inside the first 30 seconds of the quarter. Trailing 50-48, Okada converted four straight free throws, giving the Tigers a 52-50 lead with 6:35 to play in regulation.

Pickell ansered for Ithaca, giving the Bombers a 53-52 lead on her 3-pointer with 4:42 to play. On RIT's next possession, Wolfe drained a deep 3-pointer of her own, giving the Tigers a 55-53 lead.

After a RIT turnover, Pickell tied the score at 55-55 on her bucket with 3:37 to play. Again, the Tigers came right back, taking a 57-55 lead on a Lynch basket off an assist from Stanley. There were five ties inside the last 3:37 of the game. Each time RIT would take the lead, Ithaca would answer back with a bucket. Stanley made two free throws with 34 seconds to play giving the Tigers a 65-62 lead. Off an Ithaca timeout, Pickell drained a 3-pointer from the corner, tying the game at 65-65 and overtime.

Ithaca held a 50-45 rebounding edge. RIT committed 15 turnovers to 16 for the Bombers. The Tigers had nine assists on 27 buckets and had seven steals.

RIT and Ithaca split the two regular season meetings in 2018-19, with each team winning on the road.

This is the fourth straight season RIT has played in the Liberty League title game, winning the championship in 2017. The Tigers await a possible at-large berth into the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. RIT is looking for its third straight NCAA Tournament selection. The selection show is Monday, Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. and can be seen on NCAA.com.

"It would be great to lace up our practice shoes again this week if that is what's in the cards for us," said Reed. "Either way, I am so proud of our players and our seniors."