SCRANTON, Pa. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team rolled past Capital University, 86-53, on Saturday evening during day one of the Hilton Scranton Pointsettia Classic, hosted by Scranton University.
 
Three players finished in double-figures, led by senior Annie Giannone's 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting including 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Junior Cassidy O'Malley netted 15 points while senior Meghan Pickell finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists.
 
Ithaca forced 12 Capital turnovers which led to 37 points for the Bombers. IC also recorded 17 steals on the day and received 31 points from its bench players.
 
The Bombers controlled things from the jump, outscoring Capital, 27-10, in the first quarter.
 
Giannone and O'Malley started things off for IC, hitting back-to-back shots in the first 20 seconds of play. A Pickell three just 47 seconds in gave the Bombers a quick 7-0 edge before Capital put up its first points with 8:56 left.
 
The Bombers took a double-digit lead at the 6:28 mark when sophomore Grace Cannon scored following a Pickell steal.
 
Ithaca held Capital to more than five minutes of scoreless basketball, as the Crusaders did not score again until there was 3:18 left on two free throws from Brooke Ommert.
 
The Bombers took their biggest lead of the quarter – 19 points – with just 24 seconds left on two KellyAnne O'Reilly free throws.
 
O'Malley opened up the second quarter with a jumper 13 seconds in. O'Malley followed that up with a three at the 7:55 mark, giving the Bombers a 20-point advantage. Less than one minute later, senior Allie Tunick drained a three, giving IC a 35-12 edge.
 
The Crusaders rallied to score six points in less than 1:30, starting with an Erin Risner layup at 3:13. Cassidy Bosch hit another layup with 2:32 left in the half before Risner scored again at 2:06, cutting IC's lead to 42-21.
 
Emma Burns hit a three for Capital with 1:08 left to close out the Crusaders' scoring for the half, but the Bombers got the final shot in, as Pickell drained a three with three seconds to go.
 
The teams opened up the second half, exchanging points for several minutes. The Crusaders went on to score six points in less than 30 seconds on a Regan Stonerock layup and a Bosch three-point play, cutting IC's advantage to 18 points, 52-34, with 4:12 left in the quarter.
 
That would be the closest Capital would come, however, as the Crusaders would not be able to close the gap to less than 18 points through the remainder of the game.
 
O'Reilly started another run for the Bombers, hitting back-to-back three-pointers at 3:17 and 2:29. Senior Sara Jackson also hit a three with 1:00 left in the quarter, before Meghan Mazella gave IC a 29-point edge with a layup.
 
After nearly two minutes with neither team scoring to open the fourth quarter, sophomore Abi Field hit a layup to end the scoring drought.
 
From there, the Crusaders went on to outscore IC 9-2, starting with a Risner layup. Burns then netted two free throws followed by a three-pointer. Elle Folan ended the run with two free throws, cutting the Bombers' lead to 70-48.
 
Jackson went on to drain two more threes in the fourth quarter, the final one with 3:25 left, to finish with nine points.
 
The Bombers are back in action tomorrow as they face host-team No. 6/9 Scranton at 4 p.m. A win over the 7-0 Lady Royals would secure win number 400 of Head Coach Dan Raymond's career.