ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team was outscored by 18 points over the final six minutes to suffer a 71-48 defeat at the hands of Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.
 
Despite the loss, Union (8-14, 6-10 Liberty League) still controls its own fate in the race for the sixth and final postseason spot, as the team sits alone in sixth place but now is just one game ahead of a trio of teams (RIT, Clarkson and William Smith) with two games remaining. Two wins next weekend would clinch a postseason spot for the second straight season.
 
Seniors Megan Lee and Olivia Pachla led Union with 11 and 10 points, respectively, with Pachla also chipping in a team-leading seven rebounds.
 
RIT (7-16, 5-11 Liberty League) remained in the postseason hunt thanks to a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds from Kaleesha Joseph and 18 points from Lila McGuiggan.
 
Union got off to an excellent start on Saturday, outscoring RIT 12-4 and forcing five turnovers over the first 6:20 of the contest. Lee and classmate Kendall Degenhardt had four points each to lead the early charge. However, the visitors missed their last three shots and turned the ball over three times as the Tigers closed on a 10-0 run to take their first lead at 14-12 after one frame.
 
Union had its worst shooting frame of the game (4-of-16) in the second stanza, but was still only outscored by two points to stay in the contest. The team gained its last lead at 15-14 following a Pachla layup and a free throw by sophomore Claudia Porto, but RIT responded with seven of the next nine points to take back the lead at 21-17. Following baskets by juniors Kennedy Clark and Emma Riley that knotted the score again, RIT scored the final four points to take a 25-21 lead into halftime.
 
The visitors remained within one possession for much of the third quarter before a late 9-0 run put the Tigers up 44-33 after 30 minutes. Union hung around for the first few minutes of the fourth period, but Union went cold at the worst possible time, as RIT finished the game on a 21-3 run. The team went 1-for-6 from the field and had three turnovers during the decisive stretch, while RIT hit 6-of-9 shots from the field and all seven free-throw attempts.
 
Union finished the game shooting 35.8 percent (19 of 53) from the field, while RIT ended the afternoon at 45.5 percent (25 of 55) from the floor.
 
Union will close out the regular season at home next weekend, beginning on Friday night with a huge matchup against Clarkson University at 5:30 p.m. at Viniar Athletic Center.