SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team outscored Rochester Institute of Technology by nine points in a pivotal third period to take control of the game and grind out a sixth straight Liberty League victory by a 64-57 score on Tuesday night at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Seniors Kate Peek, Jelena Perovic and Grace Ardito accounted for 48 of the Garnet Chargers' 64 points on the night, led by Peek's game-high 22 points thanks to 9-of-10 shooting from the line. Perovic chipped in 15 points to go with six boards, three blocks and three assists, while Ardito hit a trio of treys to finish with nine points and three assists. Sophomore Olivia Cunningham also chipped in a game-high 14 rebounds along with five assists and six points for Union (10-3, 6-0 Liberty League).
 
Peek started strong by scoring eight of Union's first 18 points of the game, including six in the first 10 minutes as the home team gained a slight 16-13 edge after one period. RIT (7-6, 4-2 Liberty League) reversed the score in the second frame to send the teams into halftime knotted at 29. The second stanza saw the lead change hands seven times in a back-and-forth period, with a layup by junior Morgan Schultz providing the final points to knot the score after 20 minutes.
 
The Garnet Chargers came out of the locker rooms strong, hitting 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) shots from the field and outscoring RIT 21-12 in the third to gain some momentum. Perovic had four points and both Peek and Ardito chipped in threes during a 10-0 run to start the frame that built up the day's first double-digit advantage. An Ardito three gave Union its largest lead of the game at 50-36 with 1:14 left in the third before five straight RIT points made it a nine-point game after three.
 
The Union lead decreased to four on a pair of occasions, but a layup by Ardito and a Peek three-pointer kept Union in control over the first seven minutes of the fourth. The Tigers got within one possession with 23 seconds left after a Caroline Henderson triple, but Peek hit a pair of free throws to bump the lead back to five and two defensive stands helped to finish off the win.
 
Union shot 40.4 percent (21 of 52) from the field and 38.1 percent (8 of 21) from beyond the arc, while also getting to the free-throw line 19 times and hitting 14 (73.7 percent). Union also limited RIT to 31.8 percent (21 of 66) shooting overall, as the Garnet Chargers worked hard to deny good scoring opportunities despite RIT's 16 offensive rebounds that only resulted in 10 second-chance points.
 
Union will look to keep rolling on Friday when the Garnet Chargers host Bard College in a conference matchup set to tipoff at 5:30 p.m. at Viniar Athletic Center.