Box Score

ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team (19-2, 10-1 Empire 8) posted a 65-55 victory over Empire 8 foe Hartwick (16-6, 8-3 Empire 8) on Friday night.

The Bombers opened play with eight consecutive, but the Hawks broke back to thrice take a one-point lead late in the first. Ithaca held a two-point lead at halftime and outscored the host Hawks 37-29 in the latter frame to power to victory.

Sophomore Geena Brady led the Bombers with 13 points and eight rebounds. Classmate Christie Bonacci and senior Catherine Lewis tallied career-best performances with 11 and nine, respectively. Junior Jenn Escobido also scored nine and classmate Mary Kate Tierney eight. Tierney grabbed eight boards and dished out a career-best eight assists.

Ithaca opened action with an 8-0 run and maintained a steady gap until the Hawks chipped away at the Bombers' 14-7 lead with an 8-2 streak of their own. Hartwick claimed its first lead of the game at the eight-minute mark, 19-18. The score bounced back-and-forth five times down the stretch with Ithaca owning a 28-26 lead at intermission.

The Bombers dominated the first four minutes of the second stint, piecing together 11 straight to secure a double-digit advantage, 39-26. Facing a 45-32 deficit at 11:50, Hartwick drained back-to-back threes en route to nine unanswered to cut within four. The Bombers outlasted the Hawks in the long run. Ithaca regained a double-figure difference with one minute lingering in the game and went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe to secure the victory.

Ithaca converted 47.1 percent of its shots to Hartwick's 37.7 percent. The Hawks held a slight 33-30 edge in total rebounds.

The Bombers return to action on Saturday at Stevens Institute of Technology at 4 p.m.