ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Four players reached double figures as the Ithaca College women's basketball team rolled to a 98-36 victory in the 2018-19 season opener.
 
The Bombers were led by junior Cassidy O'Malley who netted 17 points while notching six rebounds, five blocked shots and five steals in 19 minutes of work.
 
Junior transfer KellyAnne O'Reilly scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in her first game at IC while sophomore Grace Cannon added 13 points and eight rebounds. Senior Sara Jackson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
 
The Bombers wasted no time in taking control of the game, going up 11-0 in the first four minutes before Blackburn scored its first point on a free throw with 4:56 left in the first quarter.
 
IC closed out the first quarter by outscoring the Beavers 12-2, behind five points from O'Reilly and a three-point play from O'Malley.
 
The Bombers opened up the second quarter with four straight points on two free throws from senior Meghan Mazzella and a layup from sophomore Abbi Field, pushing the lead to 31-5. Ithaca then went up by 30 points, 41-10, after scoring eight points a row, six of which were on free throws from Mazzella, Jackson and first-year Cara Volpe.
 
The Beavers' Lexie Black converted a three-point play with 6:27 left in the half before neither team scored for nearly three minutes. Cannon broke the scoring drought with 2:56 left with a jumper. IC outscored the Beavers 8-4 to end the first half, as Cannon netted four of those points.
 
It was more of the same in the second half, as the Bombers continued to dominate the floor.
 
After O'Malley opened the half with a jumper to give IC a 35-point lead, Blackburn netted four points in a row, from Gariel Pierce and Maria Cline. The four points was the most the Beavers had scored back-to-back at that point.
 
IC answered with seven straight points, five from Cannon, before going on to outscore Blackburn 9-3 in the final five minutes of the third quarter. O'Reilly netted four of IC's nine points.
 
The Bombers closed out the game with 25 points in the four quarter, while holding Blackburn to just 10.
 
Ithaca's first-year players got valuable experience in the final quarter, as all five saw playing time. All five newcomers pitched in points in the Bombers win, led by six points from Alex Heuwetter, who was 2-for-3 from behind the arc.
 
Volpe added four points for IC while Melissa Buxton and Lindsey Albertelli had two each in their college debut. Alyssa Spady hit a free throw to put a point on the board as well.
 
Ithaca was relentless on defense, forcing 28 Beavers' turnovers while recording 13 steals on the day. The Bombers also dominated the boards, out-rebounding Blackburn 62-29. Of those rebounds, 25 were offensive, leading to 27 second-chance points for IC.
 
The Bombers are back in action tomorrow evening in the McWilliams Classic Championship at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST. They will play the winner of Wash. U and Texas-Dallas.