ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Despite a dominant first half, the Ithaca College women's basketball team could not overcome a second-half surge from No. 22 UT-Dallas, eventually falling to the Comets 70-62 in the championship game of the 18^th Annual McWilliams Classic.
 
Ithaca's defense was stifling in the first half, causing 13 UT-Dallas turnovers, while also clicking on offense to go up by as many as 14 points.
 
Although the Comets' Katie Gunther netted the first two points of the game, the Bombers scored five straight on a Cassidy O'Malley layup and a Grace Cannon three-pointer to take their first lead of the game.
 
O'Malley netted two more on a fastbreak and senior Meghan Pickell drained a three pointer to give IC a six-point lead at the 7:18 mark, forcing UT Dallas to call a timeout and regroup.
 
Ithaca scored on back-to-back layups from Allie Tunick and Annie Giannone to take its first double-digit lead of the game, 14-10. The Comets answered with a pair of free throws from Kelley Skinner and a layup from Raenett Hughes to cut IC's lead to 14-8.
 
The Bombers closed out the first quarter with a 10-4 run behind points from Megan Yawman, Cannon and a three-point play from O'Malley. IC took its biggest lead of the first half, 24-10, with 33 seconds left in the first quester on a Pickell free throw.
 
UT Dallas opened up the second half with five straight points on a Shannon Mathis three-pointer and a Hughes layup, cutting the Bombers lead to seven points. Although the teams exchanged points for much of the second quarter, the Comets could not close the gap to fewer than seven points.
 
Giannone hit a free throw and sophomore Abbi Field hit a jumper with 51 seconds left in the quarter to give IC a 36-26 lead to close out the half.
 
The Bombers came out of the break to score four straight points, all from O'Malley, before the Comets started chipping away at IC's lead. The teams traded points for several minutes, but UT Dallas finally broke through with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
 
Gunther netted back-to-back layups and a jumper to cut IC's lead to just four points. After a score from IC senior Meghan Mazzella, UT Dallas' Tyra Banks drained a shot from behind the arc to bring the Bombers' edge down to just three points.
 
Yawman hit two free throws with six seconds left but Hughes did the same for the Comets to end the period with IC up just three points, 48-45.
 
The Bombers maintained a small lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter before a three-pointer from Mathis tied things up, 52-52, with 7:58 left.
 
The Comets took the lead for good with 6:43 left on a Nkechinyere Okehi layup. Shots from Gunther and Raenett pushed UT Dallas' edge to five points before Cannon netted a layup for the Bombers.
 
Amber Terry drained a three-pointer with 4:20 left, pushing the Comets' lead to 62-56.
 
With 1:44 left, O'Malley netted two free throws, cutting UT Dallas' advantage to just two points, but the Comets closed things out with six straight points, securing the 70-62 win.
 
Ithaca was led by O'Malley, who scored 23 points while pulling down nine rebounds and registering three blocks. Pickell poured in nine points and six rebounds while Yawman added eight points on the day.
 
Hughes, Gunther and Mathis all hits double digits for the Comets has Hughes and Gunther each had 16 points and Mathis scored 11.
 
For their performances, both O'Malley and Cannon were named to the All-Tournament Team. O'Malley finished the weekend with 40 points, 15 rebounds, eight blocks and six steals, while Cannon scored 20 across two games.
 
The Bombers are back in action on Tuesday, November 27 at 7 p.m. when they make the short trip to Cortland. IC then opens up Liberty League Play on Friday, November 30 and Saturday December 1 with home games against Vassar and Bard.