ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team suffered an 84-63 Empire 8 Conference loss to Stevens Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon in Ben Light Gymnasium. With the loss, Ithaca is now 3-6 on the season and 0-1 in the Empire 8 after its first contest of the New Year. Stevens improves to 5-3 overall.
The Bombers struggled offensively in the first half, shooting just 27.3-percent from the field (9-for-33) and committing 10 turnovers. Ithaca trailed Stevens, 42-29, at intermission, and the team was led by nine points from junior
Erin Ferguson, who went 3-for-3 from the floor and at the free throw line.
Sophomore
Jordan Beers pulled down six rebounds in the first half to go along with four points, while senior
Keri Steele added five points and four boards.
Ithaca scored the first basket of the game on a layup from Ferguson and then Steele connected on three free throws to give the Bombers a 5-2 lead just 1:03 into the contest. Ithaca built a five-point lead by the 6:45 mark of the first quarter, 11-6, but Stevens would knot the game up at 11-11 with four minutes to go. The Bombers regained the lead at 15-13 with 2:39 on the clock, but the Ducks closed out the period on a 6-0 run.
In the second quarter, Stevens would increase its lead to 25-15 within the opening minute and held onto a double-digit cushion for most of the frame.
As the second half got underway, Ferguson put in a layup just 10 seconds in, but Stevens scored the next seven points to increase its lead to 18 points at 49-31. By the 4:48 mark of the third quarter, the Bombers were down by 21 points at 59-38 and cut their deficit to 13 (64-51) with 1:38 to go, but Stevens closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run.
The difference stayed between 16 and 21 points for the entire fourth quarter as the Ducks went on to defeat Ithaca, 84-63.
Ferguson finished the game with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting with four rebounds. Junior
Ali Ricchiuti chipped in 10 points and pulled down seven boards with a pair of assists. Steele tallied nine points and six rebounds, while Beers had seven points and seven boards.
Ithaca shot 45.5-percent in the second half and ended the contest at 36.4-percent shooting (24-for-66).
The Bombers are back in action on Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. for another Empire 8 contest against Nazareth in Ben Light.
