ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team earned a convincing 60-40 win over Skidmore on Friday evening in its first home game of the new year.
 
The Bombers are now 6-3 on the season with a 3-0 mark in the Liberty League.
 
Senior Cassidy O'Malley once again paced Ithaca, netting a game-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists. Senior KellyAnne O'Reilly also reached double-figures for the fourth straight with 10.
 
Junior Grace Cannon finished with eight points and six rebounds while sophomore Cara Volpe also scored eight with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
 
Things started off relatively even between the two teams Ithaca led by just six points at the half, 28-22. It wasn't until the third quarter that the Bombers started to create some distance en route to the eventual 20-point win.
 
Skidmore took a brief, 5-2 lead 2:10 into the game following a Kate McCarney 3-pointer, but that would be the only lead the Thoroughbreds held throughout the game.
 
Back-to-back buckets from O'Malley gave the Bombers a one-point edge with 6:34 on the clock and IC would go on to build that up to as many as nine points in the first quarter. O'Malley hit another jumper followed by a jumper from Cannon. O'Malley then added two more baskets to put the Bombers up 14-5 with 3:20 left in the quarter.
 
The second quarter proved to be completely even, as both teams netted 12 points each.
 
Skidmore's Jessica Centore hit a 3-pointer to open the quarter and cut the Bombers' advantage to just three points. A jumper from Sydney Tsutsui closed the gap to just one point in the first minute before O'Reilly hit a layup for the Bombers.
 
Ithaca scored six straight on layups from Volpe, O'Malley and Cannon to build up a seven-point, 24-17 lead midway through the quarter. Back-to-back baskets from O'Malley would extend that lead to 11 with just 49 seconds remaining in the half. Skidmore, however, closed things out with a 3-pointer from Clare Driscoll and a jumper from McCarney to head into halftime with just a six-point deficit.
 
After back-and-forth action between the teams to open the second half, Ithaca took its first double-digit lead of the game with 3:46 remaining. O'Reilly first hit two free throws before an Abbi Field bucket push the Bombers' advantage to 10 points, 42-32.
 
Another jumper from Field followed by a 3-pointer from O'Reilly with1:28 remaining gave the Bombers a 15-point, 47-32 lead at the end of the third.
 
Ithaca continued to hold a double-digit lead through the entirety of the fourth quarter thanks to some solid play on the defensive end, limiting Skidmore to just eight points.
 
A layup from Cannon and a 3-pointer from junior Juliana Gamboa extended the Bombers' advantage to 52-34 at the 7:22 mark.
 
Skidmore's Lilly Berg hit a jumper and Toyin Koleoso netted two free throws to bring it back down to a 14-point gap but that is the closest the Thoroughbred's would come as the Bombers closed out the game on an 8-2 run.
 
The Bombers shot 48 percent on the day behind 25-for-52 shooting as well as 30 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Ithaca is back in action tomorrow with a 2 p.m. game against William Smith.