ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team closed out its regular season with a 78-61 Empire 8 Conference victory over Hartwick College on Senior Day in Ben Light Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. Ithaca wraps up its regular season with a 15-10 overall record and an 11-5 mark in the Empire 8.
Hartwick tallied the game's opening nine points, and it took the Bombers five minutes to score their first basket on a fast break layup by freshman
Annie Giannone. The Hawks would maintain at least a seven-point lead until Giannone connected on a pair of free throws with 2:40 left which made the difference 14-8. Hartwick answered with four of the next six points to go back up by eight, 18-10, with just over a minute to go, but Ithaca closed out the quarter with back-to-back layups from sophomore
Julie Yacovoni to cut the Bombers' deficit to 18-14.
The Hawks clung to their lead throughout the first 3:24 of the second period until freshman
Allie Tunick hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 20-20 with 6:36 on the clock. Ithaca took its first lead in the contest on put back from junior
Erin Ferguson, 24-23, at the 4:15 mark. The lead would change hands numerous times over the final four-plus minutes of the half, but sophomore
Jordan Beers converted a three-point play to give the Bombers a 38-36 advantage heading into the break.
There were nine lead changes in the first half, as Hartwick shot 53.8-percent overall (14-for-26) and the Bombers made 42.9-percent of their shots (15-for-35).
Senior
Keri Steele drilled a three to start the third quarter to give Ithaca its largest lead of the game, 41-36, at that time. Hartwick would score the next five points to bring things to a 41-40 difference. From there, junior
Ali Ricchiuti took over the quarter, scoring 14 of her game-high 19 points in the frame. Ricchiuti went 4-for-7 in the quarter, including 3-for-4 from three-point range to give Ithaca a 63-48 cushion with 10 minutes to play.
Ithaca kept its double digit lead throughout the fourth quarter, and went up by as many as 21 points, 78-57, with 1:18 to play.
Steele finished the game with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Beers narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards, while
Steele finished the game with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Beers narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards, while Yacovoni chipped in nine points, four rebouds, two blocks and two steals.
Tunick added eight points, while Ferguson and sophomore
Allison Spaschak each tallied six points. Ferguson also pulled down five rebounds with two blocks.
Giannone registered four points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore
Erin Woop handed out four assists in the win.
The Bombers shot 41.5% in the game (27-for-65) and made 11 threes on 32 attempts (34.4%). Ithaca also outrebounded Hartwick, 43-34, and forced 15 turnovers which led to 21 points.
Ithaca will be the No. 3 seed in next weekend's Empire 8 Tournament and will play second-seeded St. John Fisher College at 8 p.m. next Friday night in Hoboken, N.J. Stevens Institute of Technology is the host school for the championship. The final is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday.
