Box Score CANTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball program improved their record to 5-1 on the season with a 63-57 road victory against St. Lawrence on Saturday. Ithaca has now won five-straight games over St. Lawrence dating back to the 2010-11 season.
St. Lawrence scored the game's first basket 1:23 into the contest, but that was the last time the Saints would lead after sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti hit a pair of free throws at the 18:06 mark. From there, the Bombers put in three layups from seniors
Francesca Cotrupe and
Samantha Klie to open up an 8-2 advantage nearly five minutes into the matchup.
The Saints answered with four points to close to within two points at 8-6 with 14:35 remaining, but after a two-minute drought for both teams, Ithaca went on a 14-6 run over the next 4:44 to build a 10-point cushion at 22-12.
Ithaca stayed ahead by at least six points – and as many as 12 – over the final 7:53 of the half, and took a 32-26 edge into intermission.
In the second half, St. Lawrence opened with a 9-3 run to tie the contest up at 35-35 with 14:55 left in regulation. The Bombers would answer with an 11-0 run over the next 2:37 on four points each from sophomore
Erin Ferguson and freshman
Julie Yacovoni, and a three-pointer by senior
Ally Mnich.
St. Lawrence refused to go away after the 11-point deficit, and crept back to within four at 52-48 with 6:42 to go. Another three from Mnich and a layup from Ricchiuti pushed Ithaca's lead back out to nine just 40 seconds later on back-to-back possessions. After 1:30 ticked off the clock, Cotrupe gave the Bombers another 11-point advantage with a lay-in.
With the score now 59-48 and 4:34 left in the game, the Saints attempted one final comeback. The closest they could get, however, was 61-57 with 22 second remaining. Ithaca hit two free throws over the final 22 seconds, and St. Lawrence turned the ball over on its final two possessions.
Cotrupe led all players with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting and completed a double-double with 12 rebounds (seven offensive). Freshman
Jordan Beers netted 12 points off the bench with a 5-for-7 afternoon and 2-for-3 from three-point range and added five rebounds.
Mnich had nine points on a perfect shooting day behind the arc (3-for-3), while Ricchiuti chipped in eight points with seven rebounds. Klie tallied five points, four rebounds and three assists for the Bombers.
Yacovoni played 11 minutes and finished with five rebounds, four points and two assists. Ferguson scored four points with three rebounds, and senior
Geena Brady contributed five rebounds and three points.
Ithaca shot 37.3-percent from the floor (22-for-59) and 5-for-12 from three-point range. The Bombers went to the free throw line 22 more times than St. Lawrence (30 to eight), but only made more (14 to five).
Ithaca also grabbed 16 more rebounds than its season average with 50 (19 offensive) on Saturday. The Bombers entered today's game averaging 34.2 rebounds per contest.
Next up for Ithaca is another road game at Rochester on Dec. 13 at 3 p.m. The Bombers will then fly to Puerto Rico for two games against Plattsburgh and Cabrini on the 28th and 29th.
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