ROCHESTER, N.Y.— The William Smith College basketball team completed the regular season sweep of RIT this afternoon as it defeated the Tigers 63-58 in a Liberty League matchup in Clark Gymnasium. The Herons move to 6-12 overall and 4-7 in conference play, while the Tigers fall to 5-13 overall with a 3-8 mark in the conference.
 
Junior Brooke Jarvis led the Herons with 15 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season while senior Lauren DeVaney chipped in 11 points and 11 rebounds for her team-leading eighth double-double of the season. First-year Mckenzie Mandyck posted a career-high 12 points after going 4-for-6 from behind the arc.
 
TEAM TOTALS

• Rebounds: William Smith 54, RIT 41
• Assists: William Smith 14, RIT 14
• Turnovers: William Smith 15, RIT 9
• Steals: RIT 10, William Smith 5
• Blocked Shots: RIT 8, William Smith 2

 
HERON STAT LEADERS

• Scoring: Brooke Jarvis 15, Mckenzie Mandyck 12, Lauren DeVaney 11, Molly Walsh 8
• Rebounding: Brooke Jarvis 12, Lauren DeVaney 11, Fiona Horan 8, Maddie Patrick 4
• Assists: Molly Walsh 4, Brooke Jarvis 3, Lauren DeVaney 2, Carly Scott 2

FIRST HALF

• The Tigers came out hot, with Ansley Orrell hitting two three-pointers to open up the game.
• The Herons responded, finding four early points from Jarvis and buckets from DeVaney, and sophomores Maddie Patrick and Molly Walsh.
• RIT would end the first quarter on top 15-10.
• The Tigers went on a 4-0 run to begin the second quarter before first-year Mckenzie Mandyck hit a deep three-pointer to end the run.
• William Smith and RIT would trade points in the second quarter with the Tigers trying to extend their early lead.
• The Herons answered with strong shooting from behind the arc, hitting three more three-pointers in the quarter, including two late threes from Mandyck to tie the game at 29.
• RIT's Emma Waite would hit a three-pointer as time expired to give the Tigers a 32-29 lead heading into the half.

SECOND HALF

• The Herons picked up right where they left off as Walsh opened the scoring from behind the arc.
• Patrick converted an early layup to give the Herons their first lead of the game.
• The Herons used the early momentum to push their lead to nine as Mandyck hit her fourth three-pointer of the day.
• The Tigers fought back including a three of their own from Abigail Smith to cut the Herons lead to four heading into the final ten minutes.
• RIT responded with an 8-0 run to start the fourth before DeVaney converted a driving layup to cut the Tigers lead to two.
• First-year Mara Bledsoe made her presence known down the stretch, posting five points late to grab the lead for William Smith.
• The Herons used strong rebounding and shooting from the free throw line to extend their lead to five, which was enough to deliver William Smith its fourth conference victory of the season.

COACHES CORNER

"Today was a great back-and-forth game," Head Coach Lindsay Sharman said. "We are at the point in the season where there's going to be a lot of tough, gritty games like today and we did a great job of sticking to our game plan, even when we were struggling to finish around the basket. Everyone stepped up in different ways and in different moments, and that is what it is going to take to win in our league."

UP NEXT
 
William Smith will be back in Bristol Gymnasium on Tuesday, Jan. 31, when it hosts Skidmore in a midweek conference matchup. Tip off between the Herons and the Thoroughbreds is set for 5 p.m.