ITHACA, N.Y. – For the second time in just over two weeks, the women's basketball team (15-7, 11-2 Empire 8) rallied for a win over the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks (17-4, 9-3 Empire 8). After tallying from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat the host Ducks 49-47 in Hoboken, N.J., on Jan. 25, Ithaca erased an 11-point Stevens lead in the final nine minutes to win 61-60. With the win, the Bombers clinched a spot in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament and remain half a game ahead of Utica atop the Empire 8 standings while the Ducks fall to third.
Junior guard Lindsay Brown (Immaculate/Danbury, Conn.) connected on a three-point basket – her fourth of the game's final six and a half minutes – with 10 seconds left for the winning points. Brown's game-winner followed a pair of missed free throws by the Ducks, who missed two free throws with 15 seconds to go and failed to connect on two lay-ups that would have won the game.
Brown added six rebounds and a pair of steals. Senior forward Tracy Bradley (Lewiston/Brunswick, Maine) and sophomore guard Jordan Confessore (South Brunswick/Kendall Park, N.J.) both added 14 points as well. Confessore, who played a season-best 30 minutes, notched her highest-scoring game of the season following an injury to Ithaca's leading scorer. She added four assists. Bradley added 10 rebounds for her fifth career double-double.
Sophomore forward Elissa Klie (Ramapo/Wyckoff, N.J.) matched a career best with 10 rebounds and contributed eight points and three steals. Senior guard Megan Rumschik (Williamsville East/East Amherst), who scored six points, pulled down six rebnounds – one short of her career high – while spearheading a defensive effort that held Stevens' point guard (last year's Empire 8 Player of the Year) to five-of-14 shooting.
The Bombers conclude their four-game homestand Saturday, hosting St. John Fisher for a 2 p.m. Empire 8 game at Ben Light Gymnasium.
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