Box Score HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team picked up a convincing 60-38 Empire 8 Conference win at Houghton on Friday evening. Ithaca is now a half-game ahead in Empire 8 standings with an 11-1 mark and is 17-4 overall with its fourth consecutive win.

The Bombers shot 45.0-percent in the game (27-for-60) and forced 26 turnovers, 16 from steals, which led to 21 points. Ithaca also tallied 32 points in the paint as well as 32 points from the bench.

Junior Keri Steele paced Ithaca with 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Ithaca and Houghton traded baskets over the opening eight points of the game in a span of 2:07, but the Bombers would then score five straight points to take a 9-4 edge with 16:48 left in the half. The Highlanders battled back with nine unanswered points to sustain their largest advantage of the game at 13-9 with 11:52 remaining.

From there, the Bombers took control of the contest with a 14-2 run over a stretch of 5:33 which resulted in a 23-15 cushion. During the run, freshman Jordan Beers accounted for eight points on a pair of three-pointers and a layup.  Sophomore Erin Ferguson put in two layups and senior Geena Brady notched the other basket.

Beers scored all eight of her points in the game in 1:19. She also finished with two rebounds and two assists. Ferguson contributed six points and five rebounds, while Brady posted seven points in 11 minutes played. Both Ferguson and Brady went 3-for-4 from the field.

Houghton climbed back to within five points, 25-20, with 3:49 to play, but Ithaca would outscore the Highlanders, 7-2, the rest of the way and took a 32-22 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Ithaca gradually increased its margin up to 20 points by the 10:21 mark. The Bombers maintained that difference for the rest of the game with one exception at 51-33 with 8:15 to go. Ithaca's largest lead of the game took place with 2:53 remaining on a bucket from freshman Allison Spaschak to run the score to 60-36.

Sophomore Alex Gilligan notched seven points with three assists and three steals for Ithaca. Freshman Julie Yacovoni added five points, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Sophomore Ali Ricchiuti chipped in four points and a game-high five assists.

Spaschak, seniors Francesca Cotrupe, Samantha Klie, sophomore Shayna Gaskins and freshman Sage VanAmerongen all scored two points.

Ithaca wraps up its home regular season schedule on Feb. 13 and 14. The Bombers play Hartwick at 6 p.m. on the 13th and then host Stevens at 2 p.m. on the 14th for Senior Day.