HOBOKEN, N.J. – The No. 21 Ithaca College women's basketball team defeated former Empire 8 foe Stevens, 80-71, on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Cassidy O'Malley scored 22 points in the second half en route to a career-high 30 total points to lead the Bombers. She also grabbed six rebounds and had a block in the win.
 
Senior Julie Yacovoni and junior Meghan Pickell also reached double figures, scoring 16 and 15 points, respectively. The pair also had four steals apiece.
 
The Bombers jumped out to a 6-0 lead to open the game behind four points from O'Malley.
 
Stevens' Alison netted a three to put the Ducks on the board at the 8:08 mark. Back-to-back buckets from Maddi Hahn and Megan Brown pulled Stevens within one point, 8-7, before a jumper from Christina Li gave the Ducks the one-point advantage over IC.
 
Three-pointers from Erin Woop and Pickell bookended a three from Li for Stevens, giving the Bombers a 14-12 lead with just over five minutes left to play in the first quarter.
 
O'Malley netted two free throws, Meghan Mazella added a layup and Annie Giannone drained a three to give IC a nine-point leave with 3:37 left in the first.
 
The Ducks closed the gap to just two points before Giannone scored on a fast break at the buzzer to end the quarter with a four-point lead.
 
Back-to-back layups from Pickell opened up the second quarter and gave IC the eight-point edge.
 
With two minutes left in the first half, Yacovoni hit a layup, was fouled and netted the ensuing free throw to give the Bombers a 10-point lead.
 
Another and-one play from Abbi Field gave IC their biggest lead of the half, 44-31, with just one minute left.
 
The Ducks hit the final shot of the second quarter, sending the Bombers into the half with an 11-point.
 
The Bombers had a solid third quarter, building up a lead of as many as 22 points.
 
A Yacovoni layup at the 6:10 mark started the run for IC, which was followed up by a Pickell jump shot.
 
O'Malley hit a layup and the ensuing free throw to push the IC advantage to 59-40. A free throw from Woop and a layup from Allie Tunick added to the Bombers' lead, making the score 62-40 with 3:24 left in the third.
 
In the final three minutes of the quarter, the Ducks outscored IC 14-4, cutting the Bombers' lead to 66-54 headed into the final 10 minutes.
 
Stevens kept the Bombers from building up more than 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, but could also not come within less than nine points.
 
Li drained a three to open the quarter, cutting the IC lead to just nine points, the smallest since the second quarter.
 
O'Malley netted two baskets in a row to give the Bombers a 72-59 lead with just over six minutes left to play.
 
The two teams exchanged baskets for much of the fourth quarter, and IC still held a 12-point edge with 34 seconds left.
 
Brown hit a three-pointer for the Ducks with 27 seconds left, cutting the deficit to nine, but the Bombers held off any further surge to take the win.
 
IC shot 28-65, good for a 43.1 percent clip.
 
The Bombers are back in action on Tuesday, against No. 11 Rochester, at 7 p.m. in Ben Light Gymnasium. It is the final game of 2017 for IC.