ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team defeated Bard 80-47 on Friday evening to open up Liberty League play.
 
Senior Cassidy O'Malley was just three points shy of her career-high, pouring in 27 points to go with eight rebounds and two blocks. Fellow senior KellyAnne O'Reilly had a career day, dishing out a career-high seven assists while also scoring eight points.
 
After a bucket from Bard to open the game, the Bombers went on a 12-2 run to take a double-digit lead on the Raptors. During that run, O'Malley, O'Reilly and Cara Volpe each netted four points.
 
The Bombers took their biggest lead of the first quarter with 2:54 remaining, as Volpe hit a layup on a pass from O'Malley to give IC an 18-4 advantage.
 
Bard's Jess Rylander opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer, cutting IC's lead back down to single digits and the Raptors cut the deficit down to as few as seven points following a 3-pointer from Christina Kiser at the 7:24 mark.
 
After IC built the lead back up to 11 points, 35-24, following an O'Malley jumper with 1:44 remaining, the Raptors hit a jumper and a free throw to end the half trailing by just eight points.
 
Sophomore Megan Yawman scored on a fastbreak pass from O'Reilly to open the second-half scoring for IC and regain a double-digit, 37-27 advantage.
 
With 8:14 remaining on the clock, O'Malley hit a layup and was fouled, converting the ensuing free throw for a three-point play which put IC up 40-27.
 
The Bombers closed the quarter on a high note, outscoring Bard, 13-1.
 
With 3:10 left, O'Reilly put in a bucket on a pass from Volpe. Yawman then scored again for IC for O'Reilly stole the ball and O'Malley hit a jumper, putting the Bombers up 55-34. Sophomore Lindsey Albertelli then subbed in a hit a quick layup before junior Abbi Field drilled a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left. First-year Natalie Smith ended things with a layup with just one second on the clock to give the Bombers a 62-35 advantage heading into the final quarter.
 
Ithaca continued to dominate in the fourth quarter, outscoring Bard 18-12 en route to the 33-point win.
 
In the first 5:12 of the fourth quarter, Ithaca went on a 16-3 run, starting with a jumper from Field just 14 seconds in. Bard's Caleigh DeCaprio netted the lone three points of that stretch at the 9:12 mark before IC scored 14-straight unanswered points. Melissa Buxton led for IC during the run, hitting a 3-pointer and a fastbreak layup for five points.
 
The Bombers scored 54 of their 80 points in the paint and added 17 points off Bard turnovers. IC also scored 12 fastbreak points while not allowing a single fastbreak point from Bard.
 
IC is now 2-3 on the season and will face Vassar tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. for another Liberty League matchup. The Bombers then close out the 2019 portion of its schedule at Rochester on Tuesday evening.