Box Score ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team picked up its fifth consecutive victory and remained perfect in the Empire 8 Conference with a 62-55 road win at Hartwick on Saturday afternoon. With the win, Ithaca is now 11-3 overall and 5-0 in the Empire 8, while Hartwick falls to 4-11 and 2-4.

The Bombers never trailed in the contest, but it took just over three minutes before either team could get on the board. Sophomore Ali Ricchiuti ended the scoreless drought on a three-pointer at the 16:58 mark to jump-start her game-high 18 points on the day.

Ricchiuti went 6-for-14 in the game and 4-for-7 from long range to go along with three rebounds and two steals.

After Hartwick answered 22 seconds later, the teams traded threes to make the score 9-5 with 15:31 left. Senior Ally Mnich and Ricchiuti hit the three-pointers for the Bombers. Ricchiuti then converted a steal that led to a fastbreak layup and drilled another three-pointer nearly six minutes in to give Ithaca a nine-point edge, 14-5.

The Hawks fought back to tie the game up at 14-14 midway through the half, but sophomore Alex Gilligan ended the run on Ithaca's fifth three-ball early in the game. Hartwick knotted the contest up again at 18-18 with 7:48 left on the clock, but Ithaca would go on a 10-2 run over the next 2:43, which was capped off by another three from Ricchiuti and a pair of free throws by Mnich.

Hartwick responded again with consecutive three-pointers to pull back to within two at 28-26 with just under four minutes left in the half. From there, Ithaca would go on to close out the opening 20 minutes with another short run of 5-2 and took a 33-28 lead into the break.

In the second half, Ithaca held Hartwick to just two points over the first five minutes and went up once again by nine, 40-31, after a jumper from Mnich.  Hartwick would cut its deficit to seven points on three different occasions over a four-minute span (14:41 to 10:41), but could never get any closer than that.

Ithaca built up a double-digit lead by the 8:02 mark in the second half, and went ahead by as many as 16 with just over four minutes to go. The Bombers would hold onto that double-digit cushion until Hartwick hit a three-pointer with six seconds left in regulation to account for the final score.

Mnich finished with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals, while junior Keri Steele and freshmen Jordan Beers and Erin Woop each chipped in six. Seniors Samantha Klie and Geena Brady, and freshman Sage VanAmerongen all contributed four points for the Bombers.

Steele also had two steals, while Klie handed out a team-best four assists with two steals.

Ithaca went 21-for-57 overall in the game, while Hartwick was 20-for-55. Both teams made seven three-points in the showdown, but Ithaca made five more free throws (13 to 8).

The Bombers are back at home on Jan. 20 against Houghton and then again on the 23rd versus Alfred. Both games will tip-off at 6 p.m.

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