POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 9, 2018) – Visiting Rochester Institute of Technology put a stranglehold on the Liberty League regular season title on Friday evening, coming back from a fourth-quarter deficit to knock off the Vassar College women's basketball team 58-54 in Liberty League action from Athletics & Fitness Center.
 
The Brewers (15-7, 10-5 Liberty) dropped into fifth place in the Liberty League standings with the loss, as it was the second quarter that doomed the home team. Vassar was outscored 25-8 in the second stanza, after leading 8-6 at the end of the first quarter to give the visiting Tigers (18-4, 12-3 Liberty) a 31-16 edge at the break.

After intermission, VC stormed out of the locker room, using a 19-2 run over the final 8:03 of the period to take a 40-36 lead into the break. After trailing since early in the second, Vassar finally regained even footing with the Tigers at the 1:55 point of the third, as junior Maeve Sussman buried a three-pointer to tie the game at 36.
 
On the next Brewer possession, junior guard Maddie Leong knocked down an open jumper after getting a rebound on the other end to give VC the lead at 38-36. Vassar pushed its lead out to six at 9:32 on a pair of freebies by Sussman, and led by five with 8:03 to play before the Tigers made their run.
 
The visitors got a traditional three-point play from Sydney Frank at the 7:44 mark, followed by two free throws from Jessica Glaz to make the score 46-45 in favor of Vassar. After a fast-break layup by senior Samarah Cook gave VC a two-point lead at 48-46, RIT's Abby Judd scored the games next three points to put RIT up one.
 
VC would tie the contest on a free throw by sophomore Jackie Cenan, but RIT went on an 8-0 run over the next 2:09 to put the game away. The Brewers got as close as three with 47 seconds to play after a Sophie Nick layup, but the Tigers iced the game at the line.
 
The Brewers had three scorers in double-figures, led by the 13 points by Nick, who shot 5-of-11 from the field while grabbing five rebounds. Sussman filled the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals, while senior guard Kim Romanoff added 12 points, eight caroms while making 5-of-7 from the field.
 
Vassar shot 19-of-54 (35.2 percent) from the floor on the evening, making 3-of-13 from behind the arc. The Brewers were effective from the charity stripe, shooting 86.7 percent (13-15), while winning the rebound count 40-36.
 
RIT was paced by the game-best 18 points from junior guard Cori Okada, while Glad chipped in with 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Frank and Judd each finished with nine points apiece for the Tigers, who shot 35.6 percent from the floor. RIT now has a one-game lead in the Liberty League standing on Ithaca College, who won Friday evening and is now 11-4 in the conference.
 
Vassar will look to rebound Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. for Senior Day, honoring Romanoff, Cook and Ariella Rosenthal in a pre-game ceremony before VC's game with visiting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the AFC.