ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team won its third straight game with a 47-41 Empire 8 Conference road victory at Hartwick College on Saturday afternoon in Lambros Arena. Ithaca is now 10-7 on the season and 6-2 in the Empire 8, while Hartwick drops to 6-10 and 4-4.
The 41 points allowed by the Bombers this afternoon are the lowest total surrendered this season, as was Hartwick's shooting percentage of .302 (13-for-43).
Junior
Ali Ricchiuti and sophomore
Jordan Beers paced Ithaca offensively with 12 points each. Both also grabbed five rebounds, while Beers dished out four assists with three steals.
Sophomore
Julie Yacovoni also reached double digits with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting with five rebounds. Classmate
Erin Woop led all players with eight rebounds to go along with three assists. Senior
Keri Steele and junior
Erin Ferguson each chipped in four points.
Hartwick scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer over two minutes into the first quarter, but the Bombers would take their first lead at 6-5 midway through the period. Another three by the Hawks on its ensuing possession put them back in front. The game would be knotted up twice after that at 8-8 and 10-10, until Hartwick made another from distance to make the score 13-10 with less than a minute to play. Yacovoni ended the quarter with a layup to pull Ithaca to within one at 13-12 heading to the second stanza.
Hartwick led by as many as six points on two occasions in the second quarter, 22-16 and 24-18, but the Bombers finished off the final 3:15 on an 11-2 run to take a 29-26 lead into halftime. During the run, Ricchiuti scored five points, Beers netted four and Woop added the other two.
Both teams struggled in the third quarter, scoring just six points each. The first basket of the period came from Yacovoni nearly six minutes in. Hartwick made its first field goal with 39 seconds to go.
The Bombers would outscore Hartwick, 12-9, in the fourth quarter to come away with the victory, 47-41.
Ithaca went 18-for-53 overall (34.0-percent) and 8-for-10 at the free throw line. Hartwick held a slight edge in rebounds, 35-34, but the Bombers forced 21 turnovers that led to 16 points.
The Bombers are back in action at Elmira on Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. and then close out their six-game road trip at Nazareth on Jan. 30 at 4 p.m.
