Women's basketball loses heartbreaker to Baldwin Wallace in first round of NCAA Tournament

GRANTHAM, PA -- The RIT (20-8) women's basketball lost a 73-71 heartbreaker to Baldwin Wallace University (20-7) in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship from Messiah College Friday night. Lilly Edwards scored the game-winning basket off an inbounds pass for the Yellow Jackets at the final buzzer.

RIT led 67-54 with 5:20 left in regulation. The Yellow Jackets closed the game with a 19-4 run to stun the Tigers and advance to tomorrow's second round game, where they will take on the winner of host Messiah and Hilbert College at 6 p.m.

RIT shot 44.4 percent from the floor on 24-of-54 shooting. The Tigers made 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and went 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the foul line. Seniors Tara Lynch and Cori Okada led the Tigers with 23 points apiece. Sabrina Wolfe tallied 14 points, while Brooke Stanley chipped in 10 points. Lynch led the Tigers with 11 rebounds, while Wolfe led the Tigers with three steals.

"Give Baldwin Wallace a lot of credit, they are a great team," said RIT head coach Amy Reed. "I cannot say enough about our seniors Tara and Cori. They really left it all out on the floor today."

Edwards led Baldwin Wallace with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Sydney Diedrich and Kara Schill each scored 11 points for the Yellow Jackets, who shot 25-of-61 (41.0 percent) from the floor and made 17 of 18 free throws (94.3 percent).

Baldwin Wallace led 21-14 after the first quarter, but the Tigers came storming back, tallying 28 second-quarter points to lead 42-33 at halftime. Trailing 28-22, RIT used a 14-0 run to go up 36-28. RIT tooks its first lead, 29-28 lead on a layup from Lynch with 4:53 remaining in the first half. Lynch took a pass from Okada and scored with 3:35 to play to give the Tigers a 36-28 lead, while Wolfe scored with 39 seconds remaining to give the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 42-31. Kasey Hughes converted a pair of free throws with 15 seconds to play to cut the RIT lead to a nine-point halftime edge.

The Tigers extended their lead to 50-38 on a layup by Okada with 4:25 to play in the third quarter. She scored with 17 seconds remaining in the third to give RIT a 57-46 lead, but Schill scored with three seconds remaining that cut the RIT lead to 57-48 with 10 minutes remaining.

Lynch made one of two free throws at the 5:39 mark of the fourth quarter gave the Tigers a 66-54 lead. The Yellow Jackets responded, closing out the game on a 19-4 run, including Edwards' game-winner at the buzzer to send Baldwin Wallace to the second round.

"Our defensive effort was outstanding tonight," said Reed. "I really thought we played well enough to win, but it was one of those games that we came up a little short."

RIT was making its third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Lynch finished her career at RIT third on the Tigers all-time scoring list with 1,464 career points, while Okada placed fourth with 1,391 points and leaves RIT as the all-time assists leader with 448 helpers. The duo finished their collegiate careers with an 82-31 record, smashing a school mark for most wins over a four-year span.