ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team defeated Clarkson, 72-45, during Pride night on Friday evening.
 
The game was close until midway through the first quarter when the Bombers started to pull away from the Golden Knights.
 
The two teams exchanged baskets in the opening minutes of the game and Clarkson made it just a one-point, 11-10, game at the 5:32 mark before a Julie Yacovoni three pointer started a run for IC.
 
Yacovoni went on to score the next four points for the Bomberes to give IC the 18-10 edge with just over htree minutes left in the first quarter.
 
A steal and a layup from Annie Giannone followed by two free throws bumped the Bombers lead up to double-digits for the first time in the game, which gave IC a 25-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Clarkson opened the second quarter with back-to-back threes from Raeanne Dunn and Devin Sorell to cut the Bombers' lead to seven points.
 
Ithaca went on to outscore the Golden Knights 13-4 in the remaining 8:43 of the second quarter.
 
Junior Meghan Pickell drained back-to-back shots, giving IC a 31-18 lead with 2:44 left in the half. Sophomore Cassidy O'Malley followed that up with two shots in a row before Pickell netted a shot from behind the arc with two seconds left, sending the Bombers into the half with a 38-22 lead.
 
IC came out strong in the opening minutes of the third quarter, scoring the first nine points.
 
O'Malley and Yacovoni scored two buckets in a row and Erin Woop followed that up with a three-pointer. Yacovoni added another layup for the Bombers to extend the lead to 25 points.
 
Clarkson scored for the first time of the half at the 4:22 mark, on a Shea Madison layup.
 
Tunick drained a three before Yacovoni hit two free throws to extend IC's lead to 52-24 with 3:24 left in the third.
 
Clarkson went on to outscore the Bombers 6-2 to end the quarter with an IC, 54-30 lead. The final eight points of the quarter were scored on free throws.
 
Giannone opened up the fourth quarter for the Bombers with a shot from behind the arc, which O'Malley followed up with a layup, giving IC a 59-30 advantage with just over eight minutes left to play.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter, Sara Jackson hit a three-pointer followed by a layup, giving IC a 30-point lead.
 
In the final minute of play, first-year Emily O'Neil came off the bench to hit back-to-back three-pointers.
 
The Bombers were led by O'Malley with 18 points and Yacovoni with 15 points. Yacovoni also grabbed five rebounds and recorded four blocks.
 
Pickell and Giannone each finished with seven points on the day.
 
IC went 26-for-56 from, for a 46.4 percent clip while Clarkson hit just 25 percent of its shots.
 
The Bombers are back in action tomorrow at 2 p.m. against St. Lawrence. The game will serve as the Cancer Awareness game for both the women's and men's team.