Box Score
HOBOKEN, N.J. – The 16th-ranked Ithaca College women's basketball team (7-3, 1-1 Empire 8) snapped a two-game losing skid with a 78-69 Empire 8 victory at Stevens Institute of Technology (6-3, 1-1 Empire 8) Saturday evening at Canavan Arena.
The first half featured 12 lead changes, but ended in Ithaca's favor, 38-33. The Bombers did not relinquish their lead in the second. They posted a 17-point gap half way through the period, but the Ducks used 13 consecutive to make it a four-point game. A
Kathryn Campbell three at 3:28 secured Ithaca a seven-point margin, one that Stevens could not rewrite.
Campbell scored a game-high 24 points and senior
Mary Kate Tierney added 19 and a contest-best 13 rebounds for the lone double-double of the game. Tierney had four assists and two blocks for the Bombers. Junior
Samantha Klie dished out five assists. Classmate
Francesca Cotrupe chipped in nine points and seven rebounds, while seniors
Jenn Escobido and
Elisabeth Wentlent drained eight points apiece.
The opening moments of the game bounced back-and-forth with neither team owning more than a four-point edge. The Ducks had an 18-12 lead at 13:13, but the Bombers pieced together an 11-2 run good for a 23-20 advantage at the nine-minute mark. Five consecutive allowed Stevens to inch ahead, 31-27. Ithaca took a 38-33 lead into the locker room at the half, riding a 9-0 streak bookended by Tierney buckets.
The Ducks twice snuck within a point in the first two minutes of the second half, but that's as close as they would get. A Tierney three claimed the Bombers their first double-digit gap of the contest, 58-46 at 11:21. Stevens went without a field goal for four minutes as Ithaca powered ahead, 63-48. The host squad responded by dominating a five-minute stretch with 13 unanswered to cut within 63-59 at 4:30. Escobido got the Bombers on the board to help Ithaca stay a step ahead down the stretch.
The Bombers shot a season-best 49.2 percent from the floor to the Ducks 41.5 percent. Stevens led the rebounding count, 42-40. The teams combined to go 20-for-41 from the charity stripe, each hitting 10.
Ithaca will return to action Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. against Houghton. The Bombers will play four games next week, the first three in Ben Light Gymnasium.
