ITHACA, N.Y. – The women's basketball team (13-4, 8-0 Empire 8) maintained sole possession of first place in the Empire 8, pulling away from visiting Rochester Institute of Technology (7-6, 1-3 Empire 8) for a 61-48 win Tuesday. Ithaca outscored the Tigers 41-30 in the second half, raising their all-time record against RIT to 41-2.

Senior guard Katherine Bixby (Germantown Friends/Philadelphia, Pa.) scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half and matched a career high with eight rebounds. Senior guard Lindsay Brown (Immaculate/Danbury, Conn.) scored all 13 of her points in the second half. She pulled down seven rebounds. As a team the Bombers made 17 of their 30 shots (56.7 percent) in the second half.

Junior forward Elisa Klie (Ramapo/Wyckoff, N.J.) added 14 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. She had a career-high nine steals – the program's sixth-highest single-game total – as the Bombers collected a season-best 23. Ithaca recorded steals on six of RIT's first seven possessions and forced 27 Tiger turnovers. Klie's defensive contributions also included helping harass RIT's leading scorer to just six points (she was scoreless through the first 30 minutes) and blocking a pair of her shots.

Junior guard Jordan Confessore (South Brunswick/Kendall Park, N.J.) added 11 points, three steals and a career-high three blocked shots. Ithaca's eight blocks were a season high.

The Tigers, who entered the game as the Empire 8's top-shooting team were held to 31.6 percent shooting from the floor.

Bixby raised her career total to 1,164 points, moving into seventh on Ithaca's all-time list.

The Bombers have held their opponents under 60 points 147 times in the past nine years, winning 128 of those games.

Ithaca concludes its four-game homestand Friday, hosting St. John Fisher at 6 p.m.

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