ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's basketball team fell to the Rochester Institute of Technology by a score of 61-53 on Saturday night at the Tigers' Clark Gym in the second day of the fourth annual Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout. The Cardinals, who are ranked 15^th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll, suffer their first loss of the season with their record at 4-1 this year. The Tigers move to 2-3 overall.

Sophomore Leah Koonmen had a team-high 12 points while also grabbing five rebounds for Fisher. All of the Fairport native's points came from beyond the arc with four 3-pointers made. Harper Mead contributed a game-high eight assists that was also a career-high for the freshman. Sophomores Ella Eckert and Maisy Booth were the leaders on the glass for the Cardinals with each grabbing seven rebounds.

The Cardinals came out on fire from downtown with five triples made in the first four minutes. Koonmen and sophomore Miranda Lynch each had two treys during the run as Fisher took a 15-8 lead. The Cardinals extended the lead to nine at 19-10 with a jumper from senior Alex Reigle. The Batavia native would score the final points of the first quarter to put Fisher up 23-14 heading into the first break.

Fisher went cold for most of the second quarter as it did not find the bottom of the basket until there was less than a minute to go in the frame while watching its lead evaporate and see the Tigers go up by as many as eight. Booth ended the drought with a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 31-25. Following a bucket made by RIT, sophomore Julia Mertsock sank a jumper right before half time to make it 33-27 in favor of the home squad.

In the third quarter, the Cardinals got back into their scoring groove but were matched by the Tigers as they kept the difference at four or more for the entire frame. Koonmen drilled a 3-pointer before the clock hit triple zeros to head into the final quarter down, 45-40.

On the first possession of the fourth, Booth corralled an offensive rebound and then put it off the glass and in to make it three-point game. Just over 30 seconds later, Lynch found Eckert for a layup to cut the lead to one. After a 5-0 run by the Tigers, the Cardinals responded with six-straight points to tie things up at 50-all with 3:58 remaining. Mertsock hit a layup and sunk the and one free throw to knot it up.

The Cardinals would go cold down the stretch by not earning another point for the next three-plus minutes. RIT would take advantage with going out in front by seven with less than a minute to go. Booth scored Fisher's final points of the night with a layup and then a shot made from the charity stripe that made it 57-53 with 35 seconds left on the clock. The Tigers made most of their free throws in the final seconds to put the game to bed.

Mertsock finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting with five boards as she and Koonmen were both named to the All-Tournament team for their performances over the last two games. Booth and Lynch each tallied nine points while Eckert earned seven points. The Cardinals made seven total 3-pointers to RIT's two, however, the Tigers won the rebound battle, 46-38, and made nine more shots from the free throw line.

Fisher will look to rebound when it welcomes non-conference foe Buffalo State for the Cardinals' home opener at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night at Manning and Napier Varsity Gym.