CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team held off a fourth-quarter surge to top Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham, 83-81, in the season opener.
 
Although the Devils were down 10 with one minute left, they went on a run and had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Bria Smith's layup off the inbounds play hit off the rim as the buzzer sounded, however, giving Ithaca the win.
 
The Bombers had four players reach double digits and were led by senior Julie Yacovoni with 20 points. Fellow senior Jordan Beers finished with 16 points while Cassidy O'Malley and Sara Jackson each scored 12 points.
 
FDU scored the first basket to take a small lead, but after the first minute, would not have another lead the entire game.
 
The Bombers added five straight baskets to build up a 16-point lead with less than three minutes left in the first quarter but the Devils showed tenacity early, cutting the deficit in half by the end of the quarter.
 
O'Malley gave the team a boost to open up the second quarter, scoring back-to-back layups to put the Bombers up 10 points. Ithaca then broke open the lead to 15 on a layup from Beers, a jumper from Jackson and two free throws from Beers.
 
The Devils made another push, cutting the lead to four on a Kendrea Williams layup, but a three from Erin Woop and a layup from Yacovoni put the Bombers up 40-31 heading into halftime.
 
Ithaca shot 17-for-31 in the first half for a 54.8-percent clip.
 
FDU scored seven straight points to start the second half to pull even, 40-40. An O'Malley layup got things going again for Ithaca, which led to building up an 11-point lead with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.
 
The Devils kept pushing, with a pair of Cayla Staggers' free throws cutting the Bombers' lead to six heading into the fourth quarter.
 
It looked like Ithaca would run away with the game, building up a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. Yacovoni scored 10 of her 20 points in the fourth, starting with two layups and a jumper to begin the Bombers' run.
 
Beers added a layup for the Bombers before Allie Tunick hit two free throws to take a 15-point lead. Beers scored on another layup to push the advantage to 17 points with 3:13 left in the game.
 
The Devils scored seven straight points to cut the lead to 10 with just under two minutes left. The teams exchanged points over the next minute, and FDU was still trailing by double digits with one minute left.
 
Beers gave the Bombers' a five-point lead with 22 seconds left before FDU's Gabrielle Harris hit a three, making the potential buzzer-beater scenario possible. Harris led the Devils with 31 points.
 
Statistically, Ithaca scored 12 more points off turnovers than FDU. The Bombers also scored 52 points in the paint on the night.
 
With the win, Ithaca is now 1-0 on the season heading into the second day of the Cortaca Classic. The Bombers have another challenge ahead of them tomorrow when they host No. 23 Montclair State. Montclair topped Cortland, 68-62, in its first game of the Cortaca Classic.
 
The game against Montclair is slated for 3 p.m., while Cortland and FDU-Florham will tip off at 1 p.m.