Box Score BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Ithaca College women's basketball team outscored Mount St. Vincent by 12 points in the closing portion of the game and earned an 82-72 win in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament at Morrell Gymnasium at Bowdoin College. Ithaca has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. The Bombers will face Bowdoin in Saturday's second-round game at 7 p.m.

Ithaca held a 50-27 advantage in rebounds, including 24 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points for the Bombers.

Ithaca had a strong start to the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Ali Ricchiuti and Alex Gilligan stretched Ithaca's lead to 19-7 and forced Mount St. Vincent to use a timeout with 13:24 remaining in the first half. The lead grew to 18 points at 27-9 with 11:22 remaining in the first half, and was Ithaca's largest lead. Ithaca led 39-26 at halftime. Nine different players scored in the opening 20 minutes for the Bombers.

Ithaca built a 16-point lead in the second half but Mount St. Vincent worked its way back into the game through the middle portion of the half and reduced Ithaca's lead to single digits.

An Ally Mnich jump shot gave Ithaca a 65-58 lead but the Dolphins answered with nine straight points to take their first lead of the game at 67-65 with 3:42 left in the second half. Keri Steele scored on a layup to tie the score for the Bombers. A free throw from Steele put Ithaca back in front 68-67. Three straight stops at the defensive end preserved the lead and Ricchiuti extended the advantage with a right-wing 3-pointer to make it 71-67. Ricchiuti grabbed a defensive rebound, made two free throws and then had another steal. She made two more free throws and Ithaca led 75-67 with 1:10 left.

A layup with 27 seconds left and a 3-pointer with two seconds left were Mount St. Vincent's only baskets of the final three and a half minutes as Ithaca's defense and rebounding carried the team down the stretch. Ricchiuti and Francesca Cotrupe each had 11 rebounds in the game.

Five players scored in double-figures for Ithaca, led by Ricchiuti with 14 points. Steele and Mnich scored 13 points each, Samantha Klie added 12 and Jordan Beers had 11. Ithaca made 21-of-25 free-throw attempts. Ithaca's defense forced 19 turnovers by Mount St. Vincent.

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