POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - It was a senior effort on Friday night as the Vassar College women's basketball team saw its three seniors combine for 58 points to lead the Brewers past the Rochester Institute of Technology, 82-52 in the Liberty League opener for both teams. VC improves to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Tigers slip to 2-4 and 0-1 in the Liberty League.

Pacing the effort for the Brewers was forward Jackie Cenan (Laguna Beach, CA), who poured in a season-high 23 points, adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Classmate and forward Sophie Nick (Denver, CO) laid down her third double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 boards to go along with two assists, while guard Isa Peczuh (Willington, CT) had 15 points with four boards, a career-high eight assists and one steal. Also posting solid numbers was junior guard Ryan DeOrio (Collegeville, PA), who had seven points, five boards, three assists and a game-best two blocks.

For RIT, senior guard Brooke Stanley (Minnetonka, MN) had 19 points with two boards and an assist, while freshman forward Kaleesha Joseph (Somerville, MA) added nine points with three caroms and a steal. Sophomore forward Alyssa Juergens (Rochester, NY) added eight points and a team-best nine rebounds with a steal.

Following an opening quarter which saw the homestanding Brewers take a 22-8 edge, Vassar continued to press into the second stanza, extending its advantage to 15 (25-10) on a trey from Peczuh with 8:37 to play. A three-pointer from DeOrio, followed by a layup from Cenan pushed the lead to 31-12, but the Tigers continued to cut back into the lead following two made free throws from Juergens and a jumper at 3:55 by Joseph to move the margin back to 15 (31-16). Cenan took control for the Brewers heading into the intermission as she poured in 10 of her 23 points over the final 2:34 of the second.

The third quarter saw the Brewers own its largest lead to that point, grabbing a 27-point (48-21) edge on a Peczuh three, but buckets from Stanley and Joseph helped curb the advantage back to 21 (48-27) at the 6:20 mark. A layup from sophomore guard Sarah Gillooly (Stow, MA) later made it a 59-29 edge with 1:10 remaining, but a jumper from Juergens and a free throw make from Stanley sent the teams into the final quarter with a 59-32 score.

RIT came alive in the fourth quarter, cutting the Vassar lead to 18 points following a three-pointer and a layup from Stanley. Despite the momentum, it proved to be shortlived as the Brewers continued to capitalize on turnovers and fouls. Sophomore guard Dani Douglas (Kalispell, MT) helped push the margin back to 28 after converting all three free throws following a foul at the arch by the Tigers and Vassar continued on for the victory.

For the game, the Brewers shot 50.0% (30-60) from the floor and owned a 78.9% (15-19) mark at the free throw line. VC held the visitors to just 35.5% (22-62) from the floor and 38.5% (5-13) from the free throw line.

Both teams return to action on Saturday for Liberty League action at 2pm. Vassar welcomes Ithaca, while RIT heads to Skidmore.