TROY, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team shot 64 percent from the field in a red-hot first half to jump out to an early lead and remain unbeaten in Liberty League play with a 74-61 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday night at East Campus Athletic Village Arena.
 
Union (8-3, 4-0 Liberty League) had a well-balanced scoring attack to pick up the win, with four players reaching double figures and six scoring eight points or more. Sophomore Olivia Cunningham filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals, followed by senior Jelena Perovic with 15 points, five boards and three helpers. Seniors Grace Ardito and Kate Peek netted 10 points each as well, with Peek adding a career-best eight caroms.
 
Six different players had at least one bucket for Union in the opening frame, as the visitors shot a sizzling 61.6 percent (11 of 18) from the field to take a 25-15 lead after 10 minutes. Senior Grace Ceseretti led all players with seven points and Cunningham added six on combined 6-of-7 shooting. After RPI (8-4, 3-2 Liberty League) grabbed its last lead of the period at 10-8, Union closed on a 17-5 run over the final 5:43 to take its first double-digit advantage of the evening.
 
The Garnet Chargers continued to shoot well in the second stanza, hitting 7-of-10 shots (70.0 percent) to extend their lead to 12 at the half.  A 9-4 run to start the period ballooned the lead to a half-best 15 points after a three from Ardito with 4:41 on the clock put the visitors up 34-19. The Engineers stayed in the game by scoring 12 of the next 19 points, but a Perovic bucket closed out the half and put Union up 43-31.
 
The third period was a stanza of streaks, with Union using good stretches at the start and the end to maintain its advantage. The Garnet Chargers started the period with six straight points – all from the free throw line – to build up an 18-point edge at 49-31; however, Rensselaer responded with a 12-2 run to get back within eight points at the midway point of the period. But the last run of the quarter went the way of the visitors, with Union scoring 10 of the last 13 points to take a 61-46 edge into the fourth.
 
Union hit only 6-of-18 shots from the field in the fourth frame but still built the lead back up to 19 after back-to-back layups from junior Morgan Schultz. RPI finished with six straight points to lower the deficit at the final buzzer.
 
The Garnet Chargers finished the game shooting 50.0 percent (30 of 60) from the field and 33.3 percent (5 of 15) from long range, the team's highest shooting percentage of the season. The visitors also posted a 44-28 edge scoring in the paint in the win.
 
Union will look to keep up the momentum tomorrow with a 2 p.m. matchup at Ithaca College.