Box Score ITHACA. N.Y. – In a back-and-forth thriller in Ben Light Gymnasium on Saturday, the Ithaca College women's basketball team wound up on the wrong end of an 86-84 overtime decision against St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 Championship. With the loss, Ithaca ends the conference tournament run with a 22-5 overall record, while Fisher improves to 21-6.
The Bombers also had their nine-game winning streak snapped on Saturday, while Fisher claimed its first Empire 8 crown since 2005-06. It was also the first overtime contest in the Empire 8 tournament final since 2006-07, and this installment of the conference championship featured 13 lead changes and six ties.
Ithaca scored the first two points of the game on free throws from junior
Keri Steele, but Fisher came right down to hit a pair at the line and then went on a 17-5 run over the opening 4:50 of the game to build a 19-7 lead.
After that, the Bombers answered with their own 8-0 spurt in two minutes to pull to within four points at 19-15. Sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti scored four points during the run, while senior
Geena Brady and freshman
Jordan Beers added baskets.
Ithaca knotted the contest up at 20-20 on a three from sophomore
Alex Gilligan and then took a one-point lead after Ricchiuti went 1-for-2 at the stripe at the 11:32 mark. The Cardinals regained the advantage on their ensuing trip down the floor, 22-21, but Beers would sink a pair at the line to put the Bombers back ahead and spark another 8-0 run up to 8:25 remaining in the half.
Fisher battled back to a 29-28 deficit over the next 2:01 and would go back ahead at 32-31 with just over five minutes left. Another basket for the Cardinals gave them a three-point cushion, but once again, Ithaca strung together eight straight points on a layup from senior
Ally Mnich and back-to-back threes from Ricchiuti and Gilligan to regain control at 39-34 with 2:48 on the clock.
With 2:01 left before intermission, Steele drilled another from distance to match Ithaca's largest lead of the half at 42-35. Fisher would score the final three points of the opening stanza to account for the 42-38 first half score.
In the second half, Fisher scored eight of the first 10 points to take back the lead at 46-44 within the opening 2:07. Ithaca regained controlled on consecutive jumpers from Mnich, but a three from the Cardinals put them back up by one, 49-48, with 16:24 to go.
By the 14:11 mark, Fisher increased its lead to 56-50 only to watch Ithaca come back to within a point at 56-55 just 1:30 later. The Cardinals would sustain their edge, and built it back up to seven points, 71-64, with 7:11 remaining in regulation.
Beers nailed consecutive jumpers to bring Ithaca back to within a possession at 71-68, but a desperation three from Fisher went in as the shot clock ran out to push the difference back out to six, 74-68, with 6:07 to go.
Now with the scoreboard reading 76-68 and 4:50 left on the clock, the Bombers put in the next 11 points over a 2:20 span to go back up, 79-76. Steele sank four free throws, Mnich made one from long range and Ricchiuti hit a jumper during the run.
The tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Mary Kate Cusack, deadlocked the game once more at 79-79 with a three and just over two minutes left, which would be the final basket in regulation.
Cusack finished the game with 41 points on 12-for-23 shooting, 8-for-17 from three-point range and 9-for-11 at the line.
In overtime, Fisher scored two quick buckets to establish a four-point edge at 83-79 in the first minute. The Bombers would go scoreless for nearly four minutes up until senior
Samantha Klie put in a layup with 1:23 to go. The Cardinals went back up by four with 49 seconds left, 85-81, but Steele kept the Bombers alive with a three-pointer with 38 ticks remaining.
With 12 seconds left, Fisher connected on 1-of-2 at the line, and a last-chance three-pointer for the Bombers would not fall.
Ithaca finished the game shooting 28-for-69 overall (40.6-percent) and 21-for-32 at the line (65.6-percent). The Bombers also outrebounded Fisher, 52-39. The Cardinals were 29-for-70 from the field, 10-for-25 from distance and 18-for-24 in free throws.
The Bombers will wait and see if they earn an at large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship on March 2 at 2:30 p.m.
Box Score (HTML)
TOURNAMENT HOMEPAGE
