ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team clinched the regular-season title and the top seed in the upcoming Liberty League Tournament with an 89-70 win over Vassar College on Friday evening.
 
The Bombers received monster performances from senior Cassidy O'Malley and junior Grace Cannon. Both players scored a career-high 31 points while O'Malley finished with 12 rebounds, six assists and five steals and Cannon grabbed 10 rebounds.
 
Ithaca led by just four points at the half, but a strong second half allowed IC to build up a double-digit lead.
 
With 7:40 remaining on the clock in the first quarter, Ithaca held a 6-2 edge over the Brewers following back-to-back buckets from Cannon.
 
The Bombers went on to take their largest lead of the quarter – nine points – after six straight. Cannon started it off with two layups in a row and KellyAnne O'Reilly hit a jumper to put IC up 15-6 with 3:59 remaining.
 
An and-one play from Vassar's Jackie Cenan with 54 seconds on the clock brought the Brewers within two points at the end of the first quarter.
 
Ithaca scored the first six points of the second quarter on a layup from O'Malley and a pair of free throws from both Cannon and O'Malley, giving the Bombers a 21-15 lead with 8:32 remaining.
 
Vassar answered with five straight points, all from Isa Peczuh, to cut the deficit to just three points, 23-20.
 
It was proving to be a quarter of runs, as Ithaca then scored six-straight points – four from O'Reilly – to go up 29-20 midway through the quarter.
 
The Brewers battled to make it a one-point, 31-30, game with 3:27 on the clock following a 3-pointer from Peczuh. After the Bombers built up another seven-point edge, Vassar cut it back down to two points on a layup from Sophie Nick with 24 seconds left.
 
A pair of free throws from O'Malley ended the quarter with the Bombers in the lead by four points.
 
O'Malley scored the first five points of the third quarter for IC, pushing the Bombers' advantage to 46-39 just 1:33 in.
 
Vassar cut the lead down to just two points, twice, before the Bombers scored 12 unanswered points.
 
O'Malley started the run with a layup and a pair of free throws, which Cannon followed up with two more free throws. Cannon added a layup and Abbi Field hit a jumper with 2:05 remaining in the third to give IC its biggest lead at that point, 62-48.
 
Vassar's Emily Tincher ended the third quarter with a layup which gave the Brewers momentum into the fourth quarter. Nick opened it up with a layup before Peczuh added a bucket. A 3-pointer from Ryan DeOrio with 8:14 on the clock brought Vassar within three points, 84-61.
 
From there, the Bombers scored seven straight – four from O'Malley – to open the lead back up to 11 points, 72-61.
 
Although Vassar brought it back down to single-digits on a pair of free throws from Sarah Gillooly at 6:26, that would be the closest the Brewers would come for the remainder of the game.
 
Ithaca closed things out with a 17-7 run in the final six minutes of the game to lock up hosting rights for next weekend's Liberty League Tournament for the second year in a row.
 
The Bombers shot 27-for-56 (48.2 percent) from the field, including nearly 54 percent in both the third and fourth quarters. Ithaca had the edge on the boards, 46-39, and scored 21 points off turnovers.
 
Ithaca is back in action tomorrow afternoon with a 2 p.m. game against Bard. Prior to tip-off, IC will honor its two seniors – Cassidy O'Malley and KellyAnne O'Reilly.