VIDEO | STATS | TOURNAMENT PAGE
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team have surged for the entirety of the second semester this season and have won 17-straight games entering the postseason as the Bombers are slated to host the 2022 Liberty League Championship tournament on Saturday, Feb. 26 and Sunday, Feb. 27 inside Ben Light Gymnasium.
The top-seeded Bombers will welcome No. 2 Vassar, No. 3 St. Lawrence and No. 4 Union to South Hill this weekend, with the first semifinals game starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Ithaca will take on Union in the first semifinals, Saturday at 2 p.m., before Vassar and St. Lawrence square off in the nightcap at 4:30 p.m. The winner of each game will play in Sunday's championship at 2 p.m.
SPECTATOR POLICY
External spectators are allowed for the Liberty League Tournament games. Face coverings are required at all times, regardless of vaccination status. Face coverings must be worn correctly covering both mouth and nose while inside Ben Light Gymnasium.
RECORD VS. THE FIELD
Ithaca defeated Union College both times this season. They bested the Dutchwomen 54-47 at Ben Light Gymnasium and then once again defeated them on the road by a score of 66-56.
The Bombers also swept the season series again St. Lawrence defeating them on the road in a overtime thriller, 71-70. IC then hosted the Saints on February 12 where they won by score of 66-52.
Ithaca split its season series with Vassar, 71-64 (loss) and most recently 80-72 (win).
INSIDE LOOK AT THE BOMBERS
Ithaca earned the No. 1 seed, a first round bye and the right to host the Liberty League Championships by defeating Vassar College during the final weekend of the regular season. The Bombers entered the D3hoops.com and WBCA national rankings for the first time in 2021-22 this week and are riding a 17-game winning streak into the postseason. Ithaca was ranked No. 23 by D3hoops.com and then No. 24 by the WBCA national rankings.
The Bombers lead the Liberty League and rank 23rd nationally by allowing only 51.0 points per game, while the team's 69.1 points per game ranks second in the conference in scoring offense.
Grace Cannon is sixth among conference players by averaging 15.5 ppg and shoots nearly 50 percent from the field, and also is tied for sixth in the conference in steals.
Cara Volpe is the next leading scorer for IC averaging 9.2 points per game as
Emily Dorn (7.8) and
Melissa Buxton (5.0) pack a scoring punch off of head coach
Dan Raymond's bench. Despite having no Bomber in the top-10 of the Liberty League in rebounding, Ithaca is out-rebounding its opponents by nearly 10 boards per game.
Ithaca College is looking to win their third-straight Liberty League Championship after winning a 75-73 overtime thriller over RIT in 2019 and defeating Vassar College in another closely contested affair this time by a score of 73-71.
SCOUTING UNION COLLEGE
The Dutchwomen enter the semifinals on a seven-game winning streak, with the team's last loss coming on February 4 against Ithaca. Union won their first round matchup 54-40 over RIT on Tuesday. Union ranks second in the Liberty League by allowing 53.1 points per game. The Dutchwomen are 12-2 when holding the opposition to 33 percent shooting or worse from the field and are 11-1 when limiting opponents to 50 points or fewer.
Olivia Pachla leads the Liberty League with 52 blocks (2.1 blocks per game) in 25 contests this season. She is the only player in the conference with three games of five blocks or more
SCOUTING ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY
The Saints split their two meetings with Vassar College during the regular season, winning 99-81 in Poughkeepsie before falling 74-61 at Burkman Gymnasium four weeks ago. The player to watch for St. Lawrence is senior forward Katie Frederick who currently is second in the country with 14.4 rebounds per game, and is a crucial reason to why the Saints record the third highest defensive rebounds per game. Frederick is the team's second leading scorer at 12.6 points per game with Ava McCann leading the team averaging 13.1 points per contest.
SCOUTING VASSAR COLLEGE
Vassar earned the No. 2 seed and first round bye after posting an overall record of 17-7 and 16-2 within the Liberty League.
The Brewers average 70.5 points per game and allows 63.2 per contest, while pulling down 35.3 rebounds. They're the second-best 3-point shooting team in the Liberty League shooting 29.9% from downtown.
They enter the postseason with a trio of double digit scorers in Dani Douglas (15.5), Sarah Gillooly (14.2) and Julia Harvey (11.7). Gillooly also adds 5.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
