RIT Wins Defensive Battle With Women's Basketball

ROCHESTER, NY – Mallory Apperson hit the go-ahead layup with 2:26 left to play to lead Rochester Institute of Technology past Penn State Behrend 44-43 in non-conference women's basketball action on Tuesday night.

The Tigers (8-12) fought back from an 11-point first-half deficit and outscored the Lions (13-8) 22-15 in the second half for the one-point victory. All nine players for RIT scored, but not one was in double figures. Leslie Havens led with nine points, six rebounds, five steals, two assists and one block.

Holly Bourquin (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) and Ally Burke (Erie, PA/Mercyhurst)  totaled almost half of Behrend's points with 10 each. Bourquin finished with a double-double, adding 11 boards to go with three steals and two assists.

The Lions darted out to a 19-8 lead in the opening 11 minutes fueled by eight points from Burke. From there, Behrend registered only three more field goals, including triples from Aly Eagle (Harmony, PA/Seneca Valley) and Hannah Novotny (Cabot, PA/Knoch) to take a six-point lead at half.

The Tigers relied on defense to get back into the game in the second half, holding the Lions to 18 percent shooting.

Apperson and her sister Maddie Apperson combined to score RIT's final nine out of 11 points over a span of
10 minutes to help win the game for the Tigers. With the game tied at 40-all, Haven made a layup for a two-point advantage.

Bourquin scored the final three points for the Lions in the last 4:16 on a layup and a free throw. She evened it at 42-all with 4:16 remaining, but Mallory Apperson's layup proved to be the game winner after RIT's defense did not allow another field goal in the final minutes.

Behrend had a chance to win the game with two possessions in the last 17 seconds, but a turnover and Brianna Bayly's (Imperial, PA/West Allegheny) triple with time expiring missed the net.

The Lions return to action on Saturday at La Roche, beginning at 2 p.m.