SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team defeated Union on Saturday afternoon, 53-38.
 
The Bombers had a balanced-scoring attack against the Dutchwomen, led by senior Julie Yacovoni's nine points. Junior Meghan Pickell finished with seven points while Allison Spaschak, Cassidy O'Malley, Allie Tunick, Grace Cannon, Megan Yawman, Sara Jackson and Abbi Field all finished with five points apiece.
 
The Bombers started things off the right way with Spaschak draining a three just five seconds into the game.
 
A Spaschak fastbreak layup and a jumper from Pickell gave IC a 7-0 advantage less than four minutes in.
 
Union's Jenni Barra put the Dutchwomen on the board at 6:27 before Pickell hit a shot from behind the arc, giving the Bombers an eight-point edge.
 
IC scored the next five points on a Tunick three and a Yacovoni bucket, to take its first double-digit lead of the day.
 
The Bombers continued to extend their lead in the second quarter, building it up to as many as 20 points.
 
IC scored its first points of the second quarter on a Jackson three-pointer, extending the lead to 14 points.
 
The Bombers' biggest lead of the half started with a Cannon three at the 2:42 mark before an Abbi Field and-one play extended IC's lead to 29-9.
 
Union closed out the half with six straight points on six free throws to head into the break with IC leading 29-15.
 
The Bombers continued to hold a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, starting with back-to-back buckets from Pickell and O'Malley.
 
Midway through the quarter, Union scored six points in a row, starting with a Nicole Conley free throw. Barra followed that up with a three pointer and a jumper, cutting IC's lead, 35-23. The two teams traded basketballs but two free throws from Lily Arbabanel closed out the quarter and kept the Bombers' lead to 12 points.
 
Abarbanel netted a three at 8:23 to cut the deficit to single digits for the first time since the first quarter. Conley added a bucket at 5:54 to bring IC's lead to just seven points, but that would the closest that Union would come throughout the remainder of the game.
 
The Bombers lead hit double-digits again on a Yawman three pointer with just over four minutes left to play. Yacovoni then drained another shot from behind the arc and added another layup, putting IC up 51-36 with 2:07 left.
 
Yacovoni scored the final points of the game on a layup with 1:36 which led to IC's 15-point victory.
 
With the win, the Bombers improve to 13-5 overall with an 8-3 mark in the Liberty League while Union falls to 5-12 overall with a 2-9 conference record.
 
Ithaca is back in action next Friday at Skidmore at 6 p.m. before taking on RPI next Saturday at 2 p.m.