Box Score ALFRED, N.Y – The Ithaca College women's basketball team improved to 16-4 overall and 10-1 in the Empire 8 Conference with a convincing 86-48 victory at Alfred on Tuesday evening. Fourteen players on Ithaca's roster saw at least five minutes of action.
Thirteen Bombers scored at least one point and grabbed a rebound, while 12 picked up more than one assist.
Ithaca cracked the scoreboard first just 1:24 into the contest and never trailed Alfred. The Saxons would tie the game up nearly a minute later, but the Bombers quickly went on a 10-0 run in a span of 1:19, which was highlighted by seven points from sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti.
Ricchiuti notched a team-high-tying 15 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.
Alfred pulled to within seven points by the 9:23 mark, 20-13, only to watch Ithaca put together another run, this time 8-3, to take a 28-13 advantage with 7:19 remaining. Sophomore
Erin Ferguson tallied five of her 11 points during this stretch.
Ferguson made all five of her field goal attempts on Tuesday and pulled down five rebounds in 14 minutes.
The Saxons scored four unanswered points to cut their deficit back to single digits, 28-19, with 6:25 to go, but that was the closest they would get for the remainder of the conference tilt. Ithaca would close out the half scoring 12 of the final 14 points to take a 40-21 cushion into the locker room.
In the second half, Ithaca built up a 31-point margin by the 14:43 mark. The Bombers maintained at least a 30-point difference for the rest of the game, with the exception of 27 seconds. Ithaca reached its largest lead of the contest, 77-35, with 8:35 remaining on a three-pointer from freshman
Allison Spaschak.
Junior
Keri Steele also poured in 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 4-of-5 from distance, to go along with two assists. Senior
Francesca Cotrupe snared 10 rebounds (seven offensive) and added six points. Sophomore
Alex Gilligan tallied nine points on three makes from beyond the arc with three assists, while freshman
Jordan Beers chipped in eight points and three assists.
Spaschak and sophomore
Shayna Gaskins both notched five points, while freshman
Annie Murray tallied four points. Freshman
Julie Yacovoni contributed five rebounds and three assists for Ithaca.
The Bombers shot 45.1-percent from the field (32-for-71) and 43.5-percent from three-point range (10-for-23). Ithaca grabbed 50 rebounds and assisted on 26 baskets. Of the 86 points scored on the night, 45 came from the bench, and 48 were scored in the paint.
Alfred was held to 18-of-61 shooting (29.5-percent) and forced into 17 turnovers.
Ithaca returns to conference action on Friday evening at 6 p.m. at Houghton. Next weekend, Feb. 13 & 14, the Bombers will host Hartwick on Friday at 6 p.m. and a crucial matchup against Stevens on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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