Utica, N.Y. – The women's basketball team (10-4, 5-0 Empire 8) took over sole possession of first place in the Empire 8, beating host Utica 68-63 Tuesday and handing the Pioneers (10-3, 4-1 Empire 8) their first conference loss of the season. Utica had won 15 straight home games dating back to last season.

Senior guard Katherine Bixby (Germantown Friends/Philadelphia, Pa.) led Ithaca with 19 points and seven assists. Junior forward Jane DeBiasse (Chatham/Chatham, N.J.) scored all eight of her points in the second half; she put Ithaca up 55-52 with a three-point basket midway through the second period, tied the score at 58 with another three-pointer four minutes later, then converted a lay-up for the game's final points with 1:50 left to play.

The Pioneers rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit (they trailed by as many as 12 in the first period) to take a 58-55 lead with 8:06 to go; DeBiasse tied the game with a three-pointer and a three-point basket by Bixby on the Bombers' next possession put them up for good.

Senior guard Lindsay Brown (Immaculate/Danbury, Conn.) matched a career high with 10 rebounds as Ithaca outrebounded Utica 42-31. The Bombers held the conference's second-leading rebounder -- who entered the game averaging 10.4 rpg – to six rebounds and only one in the game's first 28 minutes. Junior forward Elissa Klie (Ramapo/Wyckoff, N.J.) pulled down nine. Bixby and sopshomore guard Jessica Farley (South Dayton/Pine Valley Central) added six each.

Klie scored 11 points and added three steals. Brown finished with seven points. Bixby scored 14 of her points in the first half as Ithaca shot 50 percent from the floor en route to a 46-36 lead.

The Bombers' win raised their all-time record against the Pioneers to 28-9; they had lost three of their previous four at Utica.

Ithaca opens a four-game homestand Friday, hosting Alfred at 6 p.m.

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