ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team pulled out a 60-58 Empire 8 Conference victory at Nazareth College on Tuesday evening in Kidera Gymnasium to run its winning streak to five straight. Ithaca is now 16-3 on the season and 8-2 in the Empire 8, while Nazareth falls to 8-11 and 4-6.

The Bombers led by five points, 60-55, with 2:32 left in regulation after a layup by senior Erin Ferguson. Naz trimmed the difference to three with 1:05 to play, and after missed shot attempts on both ends of the floor, the Golden Flyers were forced to foul with 16 seconds to go. Ithaca went to the line to potentially put the game away, but missed both tries. After an offensive rebound on Nazareth's end, the Golden Flyers put up a 3-pointer to tie the game and drew a foul with one second on the clock. A make of the first attempt brought the game to a 60-58 spread, but Naz was unsuccessful on the final two free throws which ended the contest after a defensive board by Ferguson.

Tuesday night's game started in a back-and-forth fashion as the conference foes traded points over the opening six minutes. The Bombers would outscore Nazareth, 9-3, over the final 4:06 on the quarter to build a 17-9 lead. Sophomores Meghan Mazzella and Sara Jackson scored the last seven points of the period.

Mazzella staked Ithaca to its largest lead of the contest, 20-11, on a layup with 8:32 remaining, but the Bombers would be held scoreless over the next three minutes, which allowed Nazareth to get back to within a five-point spread at 20-15. The Bombers would respond, however, and go back up by nine points, 29-20, on a 3-pointer from sophomore Annie Giannone with just over a minute to go in the half. The Golden Flyers scored six unanswered to pull to within three, 29-26, but Ithaca had the final say of the half with a 3-pointer by junior Jordan Beers as time expired.

Nazareth came out shooting after intermission and took a 34-31 lead just 1:49 into the second half. During the early run for the Golden Flyers, Sam Sorge hit a pair of threes to account for six of her game-high 33 points on the evening. Ithaca regained the advantage, 36-34, after a basket from junior Erin Woop and another three-ball from Beers. The score would then be tied three different times over a 1:26 stretch until Nazareth went on a 7-0 run to take a 45-39 edge with 3:35 left.

The lead would stay in favor of Nazareth until Beers converted both attempts at the line to knot the game at 48-48 with three seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Bombers quickly went ahead in the final period of play and built a four-point lead thanks to senior Ali Ricchiuti. Ithaca would never relinquish the lead despite a gritty comeback attempt from Nazareth over the final 6:09 of play.

Beers paced Ithaca with 13 points to go along with four rebounds. Woop filled the stat sheet with six rebounds, six steals, five points, three assists and two blocks.

Ferguson added nine points on 3-of-6 shooting with seven boards, while Mazzella chipped in six points. Ricchiuti, Giannone and Jackson all contributed five points apiece. Senior Shayna Gaskins grabbed seven rebounds and tallied four points, while freshman Cassidy O'Malley also scored four points in the win.

Ithaca shot 19-for-51 in the contest (37.3-percent), but capitalized at the line, going 19-for-25. Defensively, the Bombers notched 12 steals and seven blocked shots.

Up next for Ithaca is a trip to Alfred for a 6 p.m. tipoff on Friday night. The Bombers will then return home on Saturday for a crucial E8 tilt against Stevens at 2 p.m.