ITHACA, N.Y. -- The women's basketball team (17-8) will host this weekend's Empire 8 Championship Tournament. The top-seeded Bombers will host the fourth-seeded St. John Fisher at 6 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. Second-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology takes on third-seeded Utica at 8 p.m. in Friday's second semifinal. The semifinal winners will meet Saturday at 7 p.m. in the title game, with the legue's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs at stake. All three games will be at Ithaca's Ben Light Gymnasium.

Ithaca, the only team to have qualified for all six conference tournaments, is also the only team to host the event more than once (the Bombers won the first two Empire 8 Championship Tournament in Ben Light Gymnasium).

Senior forward Tracy Bradley (Brunswick/Lewiston, Maine) is Ithaca's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 11.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. She's also shooting a team-best 49.6 percent from the floor and has collected 35 steals. The first-year starter was named a second-team Empire 8 all-star earlier this week.

Junior guard Katherine Bixby (Germantown Friends/Philadelphia, Pa.), who earned first-team Empire 8 all-star honors for the second year in a row, is scoring 11.6 ppg and leads the team with 3.5 assists per game and 29 three-point baskets.

Junior guard Lindsay Brown (Immaculate/Danbury, Conn.) is scoring 9.9 ppg and has made 28 three-pointers. She received honorable mention to the Empire 8 all-star team.

Sophomore forward Elissa Klie (), who averages 7.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, leads the team with 72 steals and 30 blocks. Senior guard Megan Rumschik (Williamsville/East Amherst) is another defensive stalwart, helping spearhead an effort that's held Bomber opponents to 56.4 ppg and 36.5 shooting from the floor. Rumschik averages 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

The Bomber bench is led by sophomore guard Jordan Confessore (South Brunswick/Kendall Park, N.J.), freshman guard Jessica Farley  (Pine Valley Central/South Dayton) and junior center Jeanine Burke (Bridgewater/RaritanRaritan, N.J.). Confessore averages 5.3 ppg and 3.4 rpg, with Burke (3.4 rpg) and Farley averaging 3.4 and 2.3, respectively.

Ticket prices are $4 (general admission) and $2 (students with ID, senior citizens and children under 12). No complimentary passes will be accepted.

Fans can follow all three games online through Live Stats, by watching ICTV's broadcast through Stretch Internet or WICB and VIC's radio coverage (WICB will broadcast the Ithaca-St. John Fisher game; VIC will broadcast the other two games).