POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team won the regular-season Liberty League title and locked up the No. 1 spot in the upcoming Liberty League tournament on Saturday with a 64-55 victory over Vassar. The win also marks Ithaca's 20^th of the season as the Bombers' improve to 20-5 overall and 15-3 in conference play.
 
Senior Annie Giannone scored a career-high 22 points while dishing out six assists and notching three steals in the win to lead the Bombers. KellyAnne O'Reilly netted 11 points, including several crucial 3-pointers down the stretch, while Cassidy O'Malley scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
 
The Bombers built up a double-digit lead in the second quarter before Vassar came out strong in the second half, cutting IC's lead down to just one point in the fourth quarter.
 
With hosting rights on the line, the game was intense from the start.
 
In the first quarter, Meghan Pickell drained a 3-pointer less than two minutes in, followed by two free throws from Grace Cannon to put IC up 7-2 with 7:47 remaining.
 
Vassar ultimately took a 10-9 lead with 5:32 on the clock, following a layup from Sophie Nick, back-to-back buckets from Maddie Leong and a shot from Isa Peczuh.
 
Giannone, however, scored her first six points of the game with back-to-back shots from distance to end the quarter with a 6-0 IC run and a 15-10 advantage.
 
Ithaca used that momentum to score the first four points of the second quarter on a layup from O'Reilly and a jumper from Sara Jackson. O'Reilly hit her first for three shots from behind the arc with a 3-pointer at 7:40, which extended the Bombers' lead to 22-12.
 
IC maintained its lead through the remainder of the second quarter, building it up to as many as 13 points following back-to-back jumpers from O'Malley and Pickell.
 
After two free throws from Vassar's Nick, the Bombers closed out the half with layups from Pickell and O'Malley, holding a 36-24 advantage at the break.
 
The Bombers opened up the third quarter with two free throws from Cannon, taking a 38-24 lead, before Vassar slowly started to chip away at the lead.
 
The Brewers' Ryan DeOrio drained a 3-pointer and Natalie Pettirossi netted two free throws and a layup, cutting the Bombers' lead to seven points (38-31) with 8:02 remaining.
 
After back-and-forth action between the two teams, Vassar outscored the Bombers, 7-2, in the final 1:19 of the quarter. Peczuh first hit a shot from distance and Nick added back-to-back buckets to close the gap to just three points, 49-46, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
 
Two free throws from Nick 1:14 into the fourth quarter brought the Brewers within one point, which would prove to be the closest they would come for the remainder of the game.
 
O'Reilly hit her first of two crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to give the Bombers a 54-48 lead with 5:27 on the clock.
 
Nick put in a layup with 2:22 remaining and followed it up with two free throws at 1:11 to once again close the gap to three points (56-53). O'Reilly, however, hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining to extend Ithaca's lead back to six points.
 
Giannone netted four free throws in the final 18 seconds to secure the win and the top-seed for Ithaca.
 
The Bombers are back in action next weekend when they host the 2019 Liberty League semifinal and final. Both Ithaca and No. 2 RIT will receive byes in the quarterfinal round, while Vassar secures the No. 3 spot and will host No. 6 Skidmore on Tuesday. No. 4 William Smith and No. 5 Union will also face off on Tuesday. The winners of Vassar/Skidmore and William Smith/Union will join IC and the Tigers on South Hill next weekend.