POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 6, 2016) — Sophie Nick notched the fifth double-double of her freshman campaign, as the Vassar College women's basketball team topped Rochester Institute of Technology at the Athletics & Fitness Center on Friday, 83-72.
With 18 points and 12 boards, Nick has registered a double-double in three straight games. Joining Nick in double-digit scoring were Ariella Rosenthal (19p), Isa Peczuh (15p) and Nicole Teta (12p).
The Brewers shot 51 percent from the floor, 58 percent (7-of-12) from downtown and 82 percent from the line, while holding their visitors to 40, 20 (4-of-20) and 89 percent, respectively.
Cori Okada poured in 32 points, as the only Tiger to reach double figures in the scoring column.
Defensively, Vassar dominated the glass, out-rebounding RIT, 42-29.
The first half, which featured four ties and 10 lead changes, was nip-and-tuck the entire way, as neither side led by more than five points at any given time.
RIT jumped out to a 10-5 advantage, as four different Tigers found the bottom of the net, but Maeve Sussman hit back-to-back layups and Teta capped the 6-0 spurt with a bucket in transition to take an 11-10 lead about midway through the first quarter.
The Brewers strung together an 8-0 run over the first and second periods to take a 21-17 advantage with about 7:30 remaining in the half.
Rosenthal broke up an 8-3 RIT run with a triple, as the Tigers briefly took a 25-24 lead. Vassar scored seven of the next 10, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Nick, 31-28.
Okada singlehandedly scored the next four for RIT, but Rosenthal hit the final bucket of the half for Vassar to take a 33-32 edge into the break.
The Brewers opened the second half on fire from three-point range, draining three triples for their first three field goals, 42-34. Two came from the hand of Isa Peczuh, while the other came from Nick.
"We played really well," coach Candice Brown said. "I think our third quarter helped us seal the deal. We got off to a quick start and kept it moving. We really wanted to focus on defense, and I think our players did a really good job at that."
Vassar extended its lead to as many as 13, 55-42, at the 1:41 mark before RIT ripped off a 10-4 run over the third and fourth quarters to get within seven, 59-52, on back-to-back Tara Lynch layups.
The Tigers continued to chip away, getting as close as six, 66-60, with three minutes remaining, but that was the closest they came to flipping the lead.
From there, Rosenthal hit a layup and a pair of free throws to push the Brewer lead back to 10, 72-62. Seven of the Brewers' final 11 points came from the charity stripe, as Nick connected on a pair of layups over the final minute of play.
Vassar next plays its second game in as many days on Saturday, Jan. 7, welcoming William Smith College to the Athletics & Fitness Center. Tipoff is timed for 2 p.m.
"William Smith is very similar to RIT," Brown said. "We're really going to focus on that defensive end of the basketball as well as making sure we don't give them rebounds. They lead the league in offensive rebounds, and we just want to make sure we secure the rebound, give them one shot and then go to the other end."
—VASSAR—
