NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team traveled down to Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon and defeated Baruch, 75-54, in a non-conference contest in the Arc Arena. Ithaca goes back above .500 on the season with an 8-7 record, while Baruch falls to 6-8.
Junior
Erin Ferguson scored the game's opening basket off a pass from senior
Keri Steele just nine seconds in. Steele then hit a three-pointer on Ithaca's next possession to build an early 5-0 lead within the first minute. Baruch got on the board at the 8:47 mark of the first quarter, but the Bombers answered with five quick points, all from sophomore
Julie Yacovoni, which forced the Bearcats to burn a timeout just 3:08 into the game.
Ithaca forced a turnover after the timeout and Steele connected on another make from behind the arc to push the difference out to 11 points at 13-2. Baruch ended the Bombers' run with a three-point play with 6:13 to go, but the Bombers' lead went back up to 11 after Steele made her third three-pointer of the quarter, and then Ferguson put in a layup midway through the stanza to give Ithaca an 18-5 advantage.
Junior
Kiera Murray checked in late in the quarter and drilled back-to-back threes to put Ithaca up by 17 points at 26-9, and then freshman
Sara Jackson established the Bombers' largest lead of the period, 28-9, with 1:14 to go. Baruch scored the final basket to close out the first quarter, 28-11.
As the second quarter got underway, the Bombers scored eight points within 1:11 to push their lead out to a 23-point spread, 36-13. Jackson and sophomore
Allison Spaschak connected on three-pointers during the early run, while freshman
Annie Giannone scored on a breakaway layup. Baruch chipped away at its deficit and brought the game back to an 18-point difference, 36-18, at the 6:58 mark, but Ithaca outscored the Bearcats, 12-4, the rest of the way to take a 48-22 lead into halftime.
Baruch pulled to within 17 points early in the third quarter with a 9-0 run, but Ithaca answered with its own 7-0 stretch to go back up by 24 points at 55-31 with 5:13 remaining. The Bombers finished off the period with a 61-38 lead, and maintained at least a 19-point advantage throughout the fourth quarter to secure the road win, 75-54.
Freshman
Meghan Pickell netted a career-high 11 points for the Bombers, while Yacovoni led Ithaca with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, which is also a career-best. Pickell pulled down five rebounds, while Yacovoni also tallied three rebounds and three assists.
Steele (four rebounds) and Murray (three assists) both finished with 10 points. Ferguson chipped in five points and five boards, while junior
Ali Ricchiuti added eight points, five rebounds and four steals. Sophomore
Erin Woop handed out five assists with four rebounds.
Twelve Bombers would net at least two points in the win. Ithaca made all eight of its three-pointers in the first half, including six in the opening 10 minutes.
Ithaca forced 21 turnovers which led to 28 points, and the Bombers also received 39 points from their bench.
Up next for Ithaca is Utica College on Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. for an Empire 8 Conference matchup on the road.
