SCHNECTADY, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team once again rose to the occasion on Friday evening as they thwarted several attempts at a comeback before prevailing 66-56 over Union College. The Bombers led from start to finish in their latest Liberty League conference victory that has them remaining in second just behind Vassar College I13-16, 12-1) with six games remaining in the regular season.

Inside the Box Score

• Ithaca outscored Union by double digits in the first quarter to set the tone with the highest scoring totals occurring in the first and fourth quarters.
• IC shot 50% (28-of-56) from the field as they had an answer to any Union comeback attempt. The visitors shot just 36.1% (22-of-61) from the floor but were able to score 16 points off turnovers.
• Grace Cannon led all scorers pouring in 22 points along with four rebounds and two blocks. It proved to be a close contest in the paint with IC just narrowly outscoring the homestanding Dutchwomen, 38-34.
• Despite outscoring IC 19-18 in the fourth quarter, Ithaca leaned on its forwards to set the tone. Lindsey Albertelli finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
• Melissa Buxton netted 12 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from downtown.

How it Happened

• The Bombers opened the game the exact way they did last time out, IC road a 9al-1 start that saw a Megan Yawman trey and Grace Cannon jumper put them up with 6:55 remaining in the period. The Dutchwomen fought there way back into the contest and trailed 14-9 with a Olivia Pachla layup, but the Bombers quickly put a stop to the mini run. They locked down defensively and forced a homestanding timeout with a quick 6-0 spurt that had IC up 20-9. Ithaca closed the period with a Grace Cannon bucket as well as a Melissa Buxton layup had her team carry a 24-14 lead into the second quarter.
• It was very much a back-and-forth second quarter with each team trading solid stretches of play. The Bombers opened the period strong and stretched their lead to 29-17 with a Lindsey Albertelli layup with 6:29 left. The Bombers withstood a mini Union run and answered with an outstanding play in transition. Emily Dorn stated off the action with a steal and passed it up court where Megan Yawman grabbed it and dished it to Cara Volpe to put up IC, 36-23. The Dutchwomen scored the final four points of the quarter to go into halftime trailing 36-27.
• Union College scratched together a few sound possessions offensively and after back-to-back Anna Metcalf jumpers she had the Dutchwomen trailing 40-36 with 3:59 left in the third quarter. The momentum was temporarily halted with a huge Melissa Buxton 3-pointer that was setup by Emily Dorn that had IC up 43-37. Grace Cannon netted her 16^th point of the contest off another Dorn feed and Cannon did it herself to put the Bombers up 48-37 on a made layup with 51 seconds left in the quarter.
• The Bombers put the game away for sure with a Lindsey Albertelli layup that gave Megan Yawman her sixth assist of the evening. The bucket proved to be the final of the game with Ithaca winning by double digits, 66-56.

 
With their 11^th-atraight victory Ithaca improved to 16-3 overall and 11-1 in the Liberty League and will square off tomorrow, Feb. 5 at Skidmore College. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.