CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team dropped its first contest of the season with a loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps [CMS], 74-68, on Saturday.
 
Senior Julie Yacovoni recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bombers. Cassidy O'Malley also scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds while Meghan Pickell added 14 points.
 
The Bombers built up as much as a five-point lead in the first quarter, starting with an O'Malley to get them on the board.
 
Two O'Malley free throws gave IC a three-point lead before senior Erin Woop stole the ball which led to Pickell extending the lead to 11-6 with just over five minutes left in the quarter.
 
CMS eventually tied things up, 16-16, on a Kailee Severt layup at the 1:18 mark. Abbi Field put two more on the board for the Bombers which gave them the 18-16 edge at the end of the quarter.
 
Yacovoni opened up the second quarter by sinking a jumper for the Bombers.
 
The score remained 22-20 in favor of the Bombers for nearly two-and-a-half minutes before Yacovoni broke the stale mate and gave IC the four-point lead.
 
A Meghan Mazzella layup pushed the Bombers' lead to seven points, 30-23, before CMS called a timeout to regroup. Following the time out, the Athenas outscored Ithaca 13-6, tying up the game ta 36 heading into halftime.
 
Following the break, the two teams consistently traded points, tying the game several times.
 
Pickell gave the Bombers a four-point, 46-42, lead at the 5:38 mark but two Kate Parrish free throws tied things up again, 46-46.
 
The Athenas took at 49-46 lead with 3:35 left in the third quarter, and the lead would hold until the end of the game. CMS held a 55-50 advantage at the end of the third quarter.
 
O'Malley cut the CMS lead to two points with a traditional three-point play just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.
 
A Cleary three-point play pushed the Athena's advantage back to five points before Allie Tunick scored on a layup to cut it back down to three.
 
Ithaca kept the deficit to three points until the 7:00 mark when CMS's Teeana Cotangco drained a three-point shot for a six-point lead.
 
With just over two minutes to play, O'Malley netted two free throws, bringing the Bombers within two points, 65-63.
 
After exchanging points, Woop sank a free throw to make the score 68-67 with just 58 seconds left. Unfortunately, that would be the closest the Bombers would get in the final minute, ultimately falling by six points.
 
Ithaca shot 27-for-59 for a 45.8 shooting percentage, which was near even with CMS.
 
The Bombers are back in action on Tuesday, November 28 when they host SUNY Cortland at 6 p.m. as part of a double-header with the men's team.
 
The "Basketball for Babies" game will also benefit the March of Dimes, which is an organization that raises awareness and money for those born prematurely and work to find the causes for prematurity.