ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team dropped a nail-biter to RPI, 56-54, on Saturday afternoon in Ben Light Gymnasium. IC is now 10-5 on the year with a 7-2 mark in Liberty League play.
 
It was clear the game was going to come down to the wire from the tip after tough back-and-forth play all game.
 
The Engineers came away with the win with just one second remaining on the clock. Following an Ithaca foul and an RPI timeout with 1.8 seconds left, Celia Tomlinson curled around for a quick inbound layup. The bucket gave RPI a 56-54 advantage and the win over the Bombers.
 
With just 47 seconds left on the clock, IC turned over the ball on an inbounds play, giving the Engineers the chance to tie it up at 54 on a Sam Krumbhaar jumper.
 
Throughout the game, neither team was able to gain much of an advantage as RPI's largest lead reached seven points and IC's hit six points.
 
Senior KellyAnne O'Reilly drilled a 3-pointer just 10 seconds into the first quarter to start things off for IC. The Engineers, however, gained a one-point, 6-5, lead on an Ines Orteo jumper midway through the quarter and held the lead for the rest of the quarter. With just 1:08 left on the clock, Tomlinson hit two free throws to give the Engineers' their biggest lead of the game, 16-9.
 
A layup from Lindsey Albertelli and a 3-pointer from Abbi Field closed the gap to just two points, 16-14, at the close of the first quarter.
 
The second quarter went on to be tied up five separate times, starting with a quick layup from Cassidy O'Malley to start the quarter. With 4:19 on the clock, O'Reilly added a layup to knot the score at 20 apiece before Field hit a jumper to give IC a brief, 22-20 edge.
 
For the remainder of the quarter, the teams exchanged baskets. A jumper from Field with just 47 seconds left in the half gave the Bombers a 27-26 advantage heading into the locker room.
 
After more back-and-forth action to open up the third quarter, IC scored five-straight points to take a 36-30 lead, its biggest of the game.
 
First, junior Grace Cannon hit a layup and was fouled, converting the free throw for a three-point play. She then added another bucket with 6:07 on the clock to extend the Bombers' lead.
 
RPI closed Ithaca's lead to just one point at 4:40, but the Bombers built it back up to five points, 40-35, less than two minutes later following a jumper from O'Malley. The Engineers closed out the third quarter on a 4-0 run, closing the gap to 40-39 heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
 
The Bombers held a slight lead in the opening minutes of the quarter until a three-point play from Krumbhaar at the 6:10 mark tied things up, 44-44.
 
From there, O'Reilly drilled a 3-pointer, but Krumbhaar answered right back with her own shot from behind the arc. O'Reilly then netted another shot from distance, but once again RPI game up with the answer, this time on a Courtney Lewis 3-pointer.
 
Ithaca had a 52-54 lead with 1:26 left, following two free throws from Cannon, but the inbound turnover and ensuing game-winner from Tomlinson gave the Engineers the win.
 
For the Bombers, O'Reilly led with 16 points while Cannon had 13 points and five rebounds. O'Malley also netted double-digits with 10 points, nine rebounds and five steals. First-year Natalie Smith had a career-high five assists.
 
Krumbhaar had 18 points to lead all scorers while Ines Ortea scored 12 and Tomlinson finished with a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Ithaca is back in action on Tuesday evening with a 7 p.m. contest against Hamilton for the final non-conference matchup of the regular-season. Following the game against the Continentals, the Bombers hit the road for a five-game stretch before closing out the regular-season with a four-game homestand.