ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball easily defeated Clarkson on Friday evening in the first of a four-game homestand. The Bombers are now 17-5 overall with a 13-2 mark in the Liberty League and are riding a seven-game win streak.
 
Senior Cassidy O'Malley led IC with 16 points and six rebounds in just 18 minutes on the floor, while junior Grace Cannon finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Junior Abbi Field also reached double figures, netting 10 points off the bench.
 
The Bombers set the tone from the jump, outscoring Clarkson 27-9 in the first quarter. Cannon and O'Malley started things off with two quick layups for IC. After a basket from the Golden Knights, Ithaca scored 10 straight points to take a 16-2 lead.
 
Senior KellyAnne O'Reilly started things off with a layup and O'Malley followed it up with another bucket. O'Malley layups bookended a jumper from Cannon to give the Bombers their 14-point lead.
 
Ithaca went on to take its biggest lead of the quarter at the 1:26 mark, as O'Reilly drilled a shot from distance on a pass from Juliana Gamboa. Field kept the Bombers' lead at 18 with a jumper to end the quarter.
 
Although scoring was more even in the second quarter, Ithaca kept the lead up to double-digits, extending it to as many as 23 points.
 
A 3-pointer from Clarkson's Maddie Pratt at the 7:03 mark cut IC's lead down to 33-17, but the Bombers scored seven points in a row to extend it out to a 23-point, 40-17 edge.
 
First-year Emily Dorn started things off with a layup, followed by a bucket from first-year Natalie Smith. Cannon hit the front end of a pair of free throws and O'Malley put in a layup at 2:16 to give IC its biggest lead of the game thus far.
 
In the third quarter, Ithaca's defense once again held Clarkson to single-digit scoring, as IC outscored the Golden Knights 17-7.
 
Jumpers from Clarkson's Hannah Earl and Elaina Porter closed IC's lead to under 20, 44-26, at the 6:33 mark. IC, however, scored the next six points of the game, four of which were scored by O'Malley.
 
The Bombers would go on to end the quarter on another 6-0 run to eclipse the 30-point lead mark.
 
Sophomore Lindsey Albertelli scored on a layup, followed by a bucket from Field. Sophomore Alex Heuwetter drilled a shot from behind the arc with 44 seconds remaining to extend the Bombers' lead to 57-27.
 
Ithaca's reserves continued to get some well-deserved playing time through the remainder of the game, as every player saw the floor.
 
Field opened up the quarter with a jumper, extended IC's advantage to 32 points, 59-27, which was the largest advantage of the game. Sophomore Melissa Buxton hit a jumper to keep the lead at 32 points with 8:26 on the clock.
 
Back-to-back Clarkson layups from Lauren Bell and Claire Flannery, as well as a 3-pointer from Flannery closed the gap to 65-39 midway through the quarter.
 
The Bombers, however, continued to play well on both ends, closing out the game with a free throw from Dorn and a layup from Smith en route to the 73-43 victory.
 
Ithaca shot 33-for-65 (50.8 percent) from the field, including a 13-for-20 (65 percent) performance in the first quarter. In total, the Bombers scored 15 points off turnovers as well as 16 fast break points. Additionally, 35 of the Bombers 73 points were from reserves.
 
The Bombers are back in action tomorrow afternoon with a 2 p.m. game against St. Lawrence.