The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team opened play in the Wendy's College Classic with a 62-60 defeat to the Rochester Institute of Technology Tuesday night at Nazareth's Kidera Gymnasium.  With the loss, Fisher is now 2-3 on the season, while RIT moves to 2-2.

The game came down to the wire, with RIT taking the lead and scoring the game's final points on a traditional three-point-play with 11.7 seconds left.

Fisher did get one last shot to tie or take the lead, but Portia Velasco, who gave Fisher a 60-59 lead with 19.1 seconds left,  was blocked on her shot from just inside the foul line as time expired.

The loss is just Fisher's third in opening-round game of the Wendy's Classic.  The Cardinals are now 16-3 all-time in opening-round games. 

The Cardinals, who came into the game after picking up their first two wins of the season on Friday and Saturday, went into halftime with a two-point deficit, down 30-28 to the Tigers.  Fisher opened the game with a 5-0 run, with all points coming from freshman standout Velasco.  But RIT responded and eventually took the small lead before halftime.

The Cardinals came out of the locker room strong, with Velasco scoring on the first possession of the half.  After tying the game at 36-36, Fisher went on an 11-2 run to gain a sizeable lead on the Tigers. 
However, the Tigers did not back down, and were able to rally back for the victory.

Sophomore Camaryn Buckner recorded her second straight double-double, finishing  with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.    Meghan Soja totaled 11 points and nine boards, while Jessica Krzemien and Sydney Bloomstein each scored seven.

Fisher will move into the consolation round, and will play on its home court on Thursday night.  The Cardinals will match-up against SUNY Geneseo in an 8 p.m. contest on Bobby Wanzer Court.