SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team held off Union College en route to a 59-51 win on Saturday afternoon. The Bombers are now 15-5 overall with an 11-2 mark in the Liberty League.
 
Ithaca was paced by 25 points and 10 rebounds from senior Cassidy O'Malley, marking her sixth double-double of the season and her second-straight 25-point game.
 
Junior Grace Cannon finished just shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds while Megan Yawman pitched in five points and grabbed second rebounds.
 
Ithaca started the game on a 7-0 run in the first two minutes as O'Malley hit two layups and a 3-pointer.
 
The Bombers' defense would go on to hold Union to just two points in the first six minutes of the game, as IC outscored the Dutchwomen 15-2.
 
Following O'Malley's impressive seven-point start, Cannon went on a run for IC as well, scoring six straight to boost the Bombers' advantage to 13-2. Yawman then hit a layup on a pass from Cara Volpe to give Ithaca a 13-point lead.
 
Union's Elly Vaughan stopped Ithaca's run with a jumper at 3:58 and Laura Vinton drilled a shot from distance 30 seconds later to close the gap back to single-digits.
 
Ithaca opened the second quarter with five-straight points to take a 24-12 lead, starting with a 3-pointer from Juliana Gamboa, followed by a jumper from Abbi Field.
 
The Bombers continued to dominate through the remainder of the first half, building up a lead of as many as 16 points.
 
Ithaca went on a 6-0 run to go up 30-15 with 4:42 on the clock, behind six points from O'Malley. The Bombers ultimately extended their lead to 16 points, 34-18, on another jumper from O'Malley with 2:23 remaining.
 
Although Ithaca maintained a double-digit lead for the first six-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter, Union started to gain momentum as the clock ticked down.
 
A jumper from Cannon with 6:12 on the clock pushed IC's advantage back up to 12, 38-26, before Union scored six points in a row to pull within six points.
 
Union's Megan Lee netted back-to-back layups and Vaughan added one as well to cut the Bombers' lead to 38-32. The Dutchwomen would go on to close it to six once again with 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
A free throw and a pair of buckets from O'Malley to start the fourth quarter extended Ithaca's lead back out to double-digits, 46-36.
 
The Dutchwomen, however, continued to work, eventually pulling with five points with 5:32 left. IreLee Ferguson hit back-to-back jumpers and Vinton converted the front end of a pair of free throws, cutting IC's lead to 48-43.
 
Following a layup from Cannon, Union's Anna Metcalf hit a free throw and Amber Raisner put in a jumper, pulling the Dutchwomen within four points, 50-46, with 4:02 on the clock.
 
The Bombers, however, held off any further surges from Union. Senior KellyAnne O'Reilly ended things on a high note for IC with four free throws in the final minute of play.
 
IC shot 22-for-57 and had a slight advantage on the boards, 43-40.
 
Ithaca is back in action tomorrow at RPI at 12 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Friday evening, but was pushed back due to snow.