Brooke Jarvis led all scorers with 26 points, but the William Smith College basketball team suffered a 74-64 Liberty League loss to Rochester Institute of Technology in Bristol Gym Saturday.
Jarvis was 11-of-20 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers and shared team-high honors eight rebounds. Olivia Parisi joined her in double figures, finishing with 16 points and eight boards. Lauren DeVaney added five points, seven rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
The Tigers were led by Emma Waite’s 22 points game. Kaleesha Joseph posted 17 points, seven boards and a team-high four assists. Alyssa Juergens contributed 16 points and three blocked shots. Sarah Henretta notched 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Late in the first quarter, William Smith led 17-15 after a jumper by Jarvis. With the shot clock nearly equal to the game clock, Waite held the ball until the last second and drained a three that gave the visitors an 18-17 lead after one.
The final bucket of the first quarter, sparked a 15-2 run by the Tigers to start the second quarter. With Waite contributing six more points, RIT stretched its lead to 33-19.
RIT led 41-29 at halftime behind Waite’s 18 points. Jarvis led William Smith with 16 points.
The Herons controlled the opening minutes of the second half, using a 14-4 run to pull within two of the Tigers. Jarvis touched off the run with a traditional 3-point play and contributed seven points in the run. RIT snapped out of its funk and finished the third quarter on a 15-6 run that sent them into the final 10 minutes with an 11-point lead.
Both teams turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter with the Herons shooting slightly better from the floor (31.6% v 25%). As the game clock ticked under four minutes, William Smith had closed the gap to just three points, but after a two-minute scoring drought by both teams, the Tigers got back in the flow scoring six straight points, including four at the free throw line to seal the victory.
William Smith (4-12, 3-7) will be back action in action Tuesday, Feb. 1 when the Herons visit Skidmore (10-5, 5-5). RIT (9-7, 6-5) will return home to host Clarkson (5-13, 4-8) at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4.
