ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team mounted a huge second half comeback against No. 21 Rochester, but the effort came up just short, as the Bombers fell to Rochester, 74-71, in Ben Light Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Ithaca is now 3-5, while UR improves to 7-1.
The Bombers trailed by just one point after the first quarter, 22-21, and shot 42.1-percent overall (8-for-19). Sophomore
Jordan Beers led the offense with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, while junior
Erin Ferguson notched four points in the frame.
Ithaca led by as many as six points in the frame at 10-4 and 17-11. The second lead came with 4:35 left in the period, and the Bombers held a lead or tie until the Yellow Jackets hit a three-pointer with 1:28 to go to take a 22-19 advantage. Beers put in the final basket of the quarter with 11 seconds remaining.
In the second quarter, Rochester outscored Ithaca, 22-12, to build an 11-point cushion heading into halftime at 44-33. The Yellow Jackets connected on a three with two seconds left on the clock to establish the first double digit lead in the contest.
Ithaca came out of intermission on a 10-2 run to cut its deficit to three points at 46-43 in a 3:10 span. Rochester answered with four straight points to go back up by seven at 50-43, but the Bombers responded with back-to-back threes from Beers and Ricchiuti to pull back to within one, and then took the lead at 51-50 on a layup from Beers with 4:34 to play in the third. The Yellow Jackets regained advantage on a three-pointer, but a layup and-one by senior
Keri Steele put Ithaca back in front at 54-53 with 3:28 on the clock. A pair of free throws by junior
Shayna Gaskins gave Ithaca another three-point edge, 56-53, with 2:55 to go, and the Bombers held on until Rochester hit a free throw to tie things up at 57-57 with one second left.
The fourth quarter was a battle the entire way, as the teams were tied on five different occasions. The latest deadlock came with 59 seconds left on a layup from Ricchiuti to make the score 69-69, but Rochester connected on 5-of-6 free throws the rest of the way to earn a hard-fought victory. Beers put in a layup as time expired to account for the final score of 74-71.
Beers finished the game with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting with six rebounds, three steals and three assists. Ricchiuti registered 16 points and went 5-for-15 from the floor with six boards.
Ferguson went 6-for-12 overall with 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Steele added 10 points and six rebounds, while sophomore
Erin Woop chipped in six boards, five points and three assists.
Gaskins pulled down seven rebounds with five points.
The Bombers shot 37.9-percent overall (25-for-66) and went 15-for-18 at the line. Rochester connected on 26-of-72 attempts and was 16-for-20 at the stripe.
Ithaca is off until January 3 when it will take on Stevens in both teams' Empire 8 openers at 4 p.m. in Ben Light.
