ITHACA, N.Y. – Three players reached double figures as the Ithaca College women's basketball team held off visiting Rochester Institute of Technology on Tuesday evening, 67-63. The Bombers are now 8-3 on the season and 5-0 in Liberty League play.
 
Senior KellyAnne O'Reilly continued her streak of double-figure scoring games, extending it to six straight with a team-high 16 points. Junior Grace Cannon netted 14 points and grabbed six boards while junior Juliana Gamboa added 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range.
 
Senior Cassidy O'Malley grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds while junior Megan Yawman dished out seven assists, tying her career high, and pulled down eight boards.
 
Keeping with tradition, the game proved to be a down-to-the-wire affair, as the teams competed heavily from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
 
After back-and-forth action throughout the first quarter, RIT and the Bombers rounded out the opening 10 minutes with a tied score of 18-18. The first quarter score was tied five different times, including the tied score at the buzzer.
 
It was RIT that held the biggest lead of the first quarter – twice – which was just three points.
 
O'Reilly started off her double-digit performance with a 3-pointer just 18 seconds into the game to give IC a slight 3-2 edge. RIT's Taylor Signor, however, dropped a 3-pointer a minute later to give the Tigers a lead once again.
 
After a 3-pointer from RIT's Brooke Stanley which gave the Tigers an 8-6 edge, the Bombers tied things up 8-8 with 5:41 on the clock following a layup from Cannon.
 
Following another tied game at 10, RIT hit a fastbreak layup and a free throw to take a 3-point, 13-10 lead with 2:36 remaining the quarter. With just 30 seconds on the clock, a 3-pointer from Stanley put the Tigers up by three points again, but Gamboa answered back with 3-pointer for IC with just three seconds left.
 
The second quarter proved to be more of the same as the teams were tied twice and were never more than five points apart.
 
After exchanging baskets for several minutes, the Bombers built up a four-point lead, their biggest of the game at that point. Cannon started things off with a jumper and Yawman drilled a 3-pointer to give IC a 30-26 lead with 4:41 remaining.
 
The Bombers then took a five point, 34-29 lead with 2:18 on the clock after layups from O'Reilly and Cannon, both assisted by Yawman.
 
RIT, however, went on a 5-0 run to close out the first half and tie things up at 34 at halftime.
 
Once again the lead changed hands several times throughout the opening minutes of the third quarter.
 
An O'Malley jumper followed by a 3-pointer from O'Reilly at the 4:11 mark gave the Bombers a 44-40 edge. IC took a four-point lead again with 2:12 on the clock on a jumper from O'Reilly. Gamboa hit a fastbreak jumper at 1:38 to push the Bombers' advantage to 48-42.
 
Another 3-pointer from Gamboa with just six seconds remaining in the quarter gave Ithaca another six-point lead, 51-45, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
 
RIT opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Stanley, but Heuwetter – who finished with a career-high nine points – bumped it back up to six points.
 
Six-straight points from the Tigers tied the game up at 54 with 6:35 remaining, but O'Reilly stopped the run with a 3-pointer for the Bombers.
 
The Tigers continued to fight and took a 62-61 lead with 1:42 on the clock following buckets from Stanley and Sabrina Wolfe.
 
In the final 24 seconds, Gamboa hit two free throws and Yawman added one to make it a two-possession game, leading to the victory.
 
For RIT, Stanley led the way with 20 points and five assists while Kaleesha Joseph had 15 points and five rebounds. Alyssa Juergens finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds while Wolfe also had a double-double of 10 points and 12 boards.
 
Ithaca is back in action this weekend with road games at St. Lawrence on Friday and Clarkson on Saturday. The Bombers then return home on Friday, January 24 for a three-game homestand against Union, RPI and Hamilton.