POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Led by freshman Naiya Kurnik's career-high 19 points, the Vassar College Women's Basketball team captured sixth Liberty League victory of the season in a 85-68 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday night at the Athletics and Fitness Center. Vassar improves to 9-7 overall and 6-3 in conference play while RPI falls to 9-7 overall and 6-3 in Liberty League action.

Vassar opened up the first quarter scoring the first 10 points as sophomores Tova Gelb and Julia Harvey each knocked down three-pointers while freshman Bella Tawney added three points. Ashlyn O'Neil knocked down a three-pointer for RPI at the 4:41 mark to end the 10-0 run as the Engineers recorded a 7-1 run of their own to trim the Brewers lead to 11-7 with 3:29 remaining. The Brewers finished the quarter on a 10-2 run and were led by freshman Maddie Ahearn's two triples, including one that was made right before the horn, to give Vassar a 21-9 advantage after one quarter of play.

Following Tawney's bucket at the 9:00 mark to keep the Brewers lead at double digits, the Engineers went on a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to tie the contest at 26 apiece. O'Neil's three-pointer at the 5:19 mark of the second quarter tied the contest before Vassar's senior Alex Lee knocked down a triple in the next possession to take the lead back. After a jumper from RPI's Molly Libby that cut Vassar's lead to 32-29, the Brewers scored 10 of the final 14 points to close the half with Kurnik tallying eight of the 10 points and drilled a step back three before the end of the second quarter to give Vassar a 42-33 lead at the halftime break.

The Brewers extended their lead to 14 points at the 7:36 mark of the third quarter on a lay-in from senior Eliza Srinivasan before the Engineers cut it to single digits on six straight points, including four from Lolo Reynolds. The Vassar lead was extended to 16 points on a bucket from Harvey with 2:42 remaining in the period until the Engineers cut the lead back to single digits again at 63-54 on a three-pointer from Marley Mueller with 50 seconds remaining. Two free throws from freshman Sierra McDermed at the end of the quarter gave the Brewers a 65-54 lead heading into the final quarter.

Vassar began the fourth quarter with layups from Kurnik and McDermed to return the lead to 15 points with about nine minutes left in the contest. Mueller responded once again for the Engineers as she drilled a three-pointer with just over seven minutes remaining to cut the Brewers advantage down to seven. Six points over the next three minutes from Lee helped VC's lead expand to 15 points once again as the lead sat at 79-64 with four and a half minutes left in regulation. The Brewers lead never fell below double digits in the final minutes as Vassar earned an 85-68 Liberty League victory.

Kurnik led all scorers with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting and was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Lee posted 14 points for the Brewers while Ahearn added 12 points off the bench, including three triples, and chipped in three rebounds and two assists. Srinivasan was the fourth player in double figures for Vassar with 10 points and team-highs in assists with five and rebounds with seven while Harvey tallied nine points, seven boards and four assists.

O'Neil and Mueller each had 15 points to lead the Engineers in scoring while Mueller had a game-high eight rebounds. Nicole DaPra scored nine points and also added three assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block. Reynolds finished the evening with eight points and three assists.

The Brewers finished the contest shooting 49.2-percent from the field and converted on 12 of 19 three-pointers while also outscoring the Engineers by nine at the free throw line. RPI shot 41.8-percent overall in the contest and made six triples while also holding a 23-10 advantage in points off turnovers. Vassar tallied 16 second chance points and assisted on 18 of the 29 made field goals.

Vassar will return to action tomorrow afternoon against Bard at 2:00 p.m. which will be followed by the unveiling of the 1,000 point banners at 3:45 p.m. RPI will travel to Skidmore tomorrow afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. tip.