TROY, N.Y. - Senior Sam Krumbhaar scored 21 points, including eight in the decisive fourth quarter, and classmate Celia Tomlinson had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team to a 65-59 victory over William Smith College in a Liberty League Tournament First Round game at East Campus Arena. The fourth-seeded Engineers improve to 17-9 and advance to play at top-seeded Ithaca College (20-5) in the semifinals on Saturday at 1pm. The Herons fall to 14-12.

The game was tied 43-43 after three quarters and William Smith jumped out to a 50-47 lead three minutes into the fourth. RPI answered with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes on layups from Krumbhaar, Courtney Lewis and Tomlinson, as well as a jumper from Krumbhaar, to take a 55-50 lead with 4:13 to play. 

William Smith's Stella Davis connected on a pair of free throws to make it 55-52, but Rensselaer freshman Nicole Da Pra scored from inside for a five point lead with 3:35 to play. Another pair of Herons free throws, this time from Stavriana Dimitrakopoulou, cut the deficit to 57-54 with 1:24 to go, but Krumbhaar hit a three pointer with 37 seconds remaining to make it a six-point lead.
 
Olivia Parisi scored in the paint to make it a four-point game before Krumbhaar made 1 of 2 free throws. Davis nailed a three from the top of the key to make it 61-59 with 20 seconds remaining, but RPI's Ines Ortea and Heather Converse both went 2 for 2 from the free throw line in the last 16 seconds for the final margin.

The Herons held a 34-27 lead at halftime thanks to a second quarter which saw them make 7 of 12 shots, including 4 of 6 three pointers. Davis had three baskets from behind the arc and led all scorers with nine points. Krumbhaar and Tomlinson both had six points for RPI, which stayed close thanks to 10 first half steals and four blocked shots.

The Engineers tied things up at the end of three quarters by holding William Smith to just nine points on 16.7 percent shooting (3 of 18) in the frame, while connecting on 7 of 16 shots (43.8%) on the other end.

Krumbhaar, a guard, finished with game-high honors on 8 of 15 shooting, along with two rebounds and a steal. Tomlinson, a forward, registered her 13th double-double of the season, along with three assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Converse, a freshman, added nine points and seven rebounds with three assists, three steals and two blocked shots in 33 minutes off the bench.

Davis finished with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists for William Smith, which lost to Rensselaer for the third time this season. Dimitrakopoulou had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds with three assists, while Parisi scored 11 points with nine rebounds. The Herons had a 44-42 edge on the boards, but managed only five steals compared to RPI's 12.