TROY, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team started off the 2020 portion of its Liberty League slate with a 67-54 defeat at the hands of first-place Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday night at ECAV Arena.
 
Senior Elly Vaughan led Union (4-5, 1-2 Liberty League) with 17 points to go with four rebounds and three blocks, hitting 7-of-13 shots from the field. Junior Corina Lindsay added 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while sophomore Laura Vinton led all players with 11 rebounds.
 
Sam Krumbhaar led three Engineers in double figures with a game-high 18 points and six assists, followed by Courtney Lewis with 16 points and Celia Tomlinson with 11 points and eight boards for RPI (8-3, 4-0 Liberty League).
 
Vaughan started the game with five of Union's first seven points, as the Dutchwomen held a 7-6 lead 1:52 into the contest. However, Union managed only two field goals after a jumper by sophomore Darby Leid with 5:41 left, as RPI closed on a 12-6 run to take a 18-13 lead after one quarter.
 
Both teams put up 18 points in the second stanza to keep the game close headed into halftime. Two buckets from freshman Megan Lee and a jumper by sophomore Amber Raisner allowed Union to keep pace early, and then Lindsay caught fire by scoring 10 of the Dutchwomen's last 12 points of the quarter, including a three in the final seconds that brought the visitors within five at 36-31.
 
Union got within two points early in the third after baskets by Raisner and senior Joana Santos, but Krumbhaar singlehandedly outscored Union 7-6 over the final 8:06, as RPI was able to build up a 50-41 lead headed to the fourth.
 
The Engineers scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take its largest lead of the game at 56-41 with 7:22 to go, and the Dutchwomen could get no closer than eight (60-52) following a jumper by junior IreLee Ferguson with 2:24 remaining.
 
Union finished the game shooting just 37.3 percent (22 of 59) from the field, including a 3-of-17 mark from beyond the arc. RPI shot 41.5 percent (22 of 53) from the field, but got to the free-throw line 18 more times and outscored Union 19-7 from the charity stripe.
 
Union will return to action tomorrow at Rochester Institute of Technology beginning at 2 p.m.