ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team fought hard against Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday, but the Dutchwomen dropped a 66-59 matchup to the Tigers, ranked 15th in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division III national poll and receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com national poll, at Clark Gymnasium.
Senior
Nicole Conley had another solid outing for Union (3-2, 1-1 Liberty League), posting her third double-double of the year with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Freshman
Amber Raisner chipped in a season-best 12 points and junior
Joana Santos hit all four of her shots to finish with 11 points as well.
The Dutchwomen led for nearly half of the first quarter, only falling behind after a jumper at the buzzer put RIT up 16-15. The second stanza was the pivotal period, when the Tigers outscored Union 16-7 to take a 32-22 lead into halftime.
The visitors decreased the deficit to six points early in the third quarter, but RIT responded to build up its largest lead of the game at 48-34 with 2:03 remaining in the period. However, Union built up some momentum by closing on an 8-0 run, getting back-to-back threes from Raisner and sophomore
Corina Lindsay before a pair of Conley free throws.
Conley continued the run with a jumper on the first possession of the fourth, getting Union within four at 48-44, but eight straight points quickly quelled any UC momentum. The Dutchwomen could not get any closer than eight points after that until a late Raisner three provided the final points.
Union actually shot the ball better than RIT on the day, connecting on 23-of-53 attempts (43.4 percent) from the field and sinking 10-of-24 shots (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc. However, the Dutchwomen only made three visits to the free-throw line, while RIT went 12-of-18 from the stripe to escape with a win.
Union will close out 2018 with three straight non-conference contests, beginning on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. tipoff against Hamilton College at the Viniar Athletic Center.
