ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team came up with a big win in its home opener, topping No. 23 Montclair State, 66-56.
 
The Bombers were led by Cassidy O'Malley, who scored career-high 18 points, all in the second half, on 8-for-14 shooting. She also grabbed four rebounds and recorded four blocks.
 
Annie Giannone tied her career high against the Redhawks with 12 points. She also added three rebounds and three assists.
 
Ithaca led for the nearly the entire game, only letting up in the opening minutes of the third quarter when Montclair notched a four-point lead. The third quarter remained close, but the Bombers eventually opened things up in the fourth after generating steals through tough defense.
 
The Bombers' defense was relentless against the Redhawks, forcing 22 turnovers which led to 24 points.
 
To start, the Bombers outscored the Redhawks 7-0 before Montclair put points up on the board with 4:05 left in the first quarter. Allie Tunick scored the first five points for Ithaca, draining a three followed by a jumper. Julie Yacovoni put in a layup to give Ithaca the seven-point advantage.
 
After a Montclair free throw, Jordan Beers netted a three-pointer to give the Bombers a 12-3 lead with 2:30 left in the first.
 
The Redhawks then went on an 8-0 run to cut Ithaca's lead to just one point. Giannone closed the first quarter out with a layup to extend the Bombers' lead to three points heading into the second quarter.
 
Montclair closed the gap to two points in the second quarter before first-year Grace Cannon netted two layups in a row for the Bombers.
 
Despite leading by as many as eight points in the second, Ithaca ended up going into the half, down by two points. The Redhawks scored the final six points of the first half to take a 27-25 lead over Ithaca.
 
O'Malley tied the game on a fastbreak layup and, after being fouled, made the ensuing free throw to give the Bombers a one-point advantage. That would be the final lead change of the game, as Ithaca would hold onto it for the rest of the game.  
 
Giannone opened up the fourth quarter by draining a three for the Bombers to put them up 49-40.
 
The closest the Redhawks would come in the final quarter was seven points, but the Bombers defense led continued to create plays for their offense and that would be the difference in the game.
 
In addition to O'Malley and Giannone scoring in double figures, the Bombers also got seven points from both Yacovini and Erin Woop. Yacovoni also grabbed a game-high 13 boards. Tunick ended the day with six points, four assists and two steals.
 
Montclair State was led by Taylor Harmon with 18 points and Katie Sire with 14 points and eight rebounds.
 
Ithaca now prepares to head out to California where they will face Pomona-Pitzer on Friday, November 24 and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, November 25. The Bombers will then come back home on Tuesday, November 28 when they host Cortland at 6 p.m. in the final tune-up before beginning Liberty League action.