ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Seniors Kate Peek and Jelena Perovic paced four Garnet Chargers in double figures with a game-high 16 points each as the Union College women's basketball team kicked off 2026 with a 69-60 win over Rochester Institute of Technology in Liberty League action on Saturday afternoon at Clark Gymnasium.
 
Perovic had one of two double-doubles on the day for Union (7-3, 3-0 Liberty League), netting 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go with a game-high 11 rebounds. She was joined by sophomore Olivia Cunningham, who scored 14 points and grabbed 10 boards along with four assists and two steals. Peek hit 3-of-6 shots from long range on the way to her 16-point afternoon, while classmate Grace Ardito also connected on three shots from beyond the arc in a 14-point effort.
 
RIT (5-4, 2-1 Liberty League) was led by Faye Kaplinski with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Union held a lead for a majority of the opening frame, but the Tigers finished the period on a 10-0 run to take a 20-14 advantage into the second. Despite that, Union responded by outscoring RIT in each of the final three frames to pull away for the win.
 
The home team built its lead up to seven points on a pair of occasions in the second stanza, taking a 27-20 lead at the midway point of the quarter. But Union doubled up RIT 14-7 over the final 4:35 to knot the score headed into halftime. Peek and Ardito combined to hit a trio of treys to lead the scoring charge for Union during the run, and senior Grace Ceseretti got the Garnet Chargers back to even with a free throw in the final seconds.
 
The teams traded the lead several times in a back-and-fourth third frame, with the lead growing no higher than four points in either direction. Down by four with 65 seconds left, Ardito drained a three to get back within a possession and junior Morgan Schultz put the visitors up by one at 50-49 with a layup.
 
Union closed the door by shooting 61.5 percent (8 of 13) in the fourth period, outscoring the home team by an 19-11 margin. Following an RIT basket to start the fourth, Cunningham's driving layup started a 13-2 run that put Union ahead for good. The Garnet Chargers hit 6-of-8 shots from the field and forced RIT into 1-of-7 shooting and four turnovers during the game-clinching run, with the lead growing to as many as 10 points after a Schultz bucket made the score 63-53 with 3:02 on the clock. Buckets by Perovic and Ceseretti in the final 90 seconds helped to seal the win and keep Union as one of two unbeaten teams in the Liberty League.
 
Union finished the afternoon shooting 45.9 percent (28 of 61) from the field and limited RIT to a 37.3 percent (22 of 59) connection rate. The team was opportunistic on the defensive end, forcing 12 RIT turnovers and turning them into 16 points at the other end.
 
Union will continue conference play next weekend with two more road games, beginning on Friday night with a 5:30 p.m. matchup at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.