ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball will continue their March Madness dance after winning their First Round matchup on Friday evening defeating the Catholic University Cardinals by a score of 75-63. The Bombers will host the Second Round game between themselves and No. 24 Springfield College who bested No. 13/17 Messiah University on Saturday in Ben Light Gymnasium at 5 p.m.
 
Springfield College 73, Messiah University 68
 
Springfield College's Sam Hourihan, Rachel Vinton, Sidney Wentland and Angela Czeremcha finished in double figures for the Pride. Vinton scored a game-high 20 points and Hourihan posted a double-double, recording 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pride past Messiah in the first game on Friday evening.
 
Springfield got off to a 7-2 start, but Messiah's Leah Springer made three straight layups to give the Falcons the lead. Springer kept Messiah's offensive momentum going scoring 10 of their 18 points in the opening stanza. Springfield held their ground and brought the game within two points after draining a three on their last possession at 18-16.
 
The Pride had a momentous second quarter, using a 10-4 scoring run in the final five minutes of the half to take a 36-29 lead into the break. Sidney Stutzman had a big quarter for the Falcons, contributing a team-leading seven points. Eleana Eckley and Harden each tallied two points in the half as Messiah had a seven-point deficit to overcome in the second half.
 
Springfield came out hot in the second half scoring on their first three possessions and going on yet another 7-2 run to extend their lead to 12 points. The Falcons trailed by just two points, 43-41, behind two successful trips to the free throw line from Eckley as the senior guard drained all four attempts.
 
The Pride outscored Messiah, 8-4, in the final four minutes of the third quarter. Entering the final quarter of play, the Falcons had a six-point deficit (51-45).
 
Messiah kept pushing to stay in the game, but Springfield ultimately controlled the quarter, highlighted by a successful and-1 conversion by Rachel Vinton to make it 65-59. Stutzman hit a three for Messiah with 1:55 to play in the game, followed by a 4-point play after Eckley was fouled as her three-point attempt found the net. It was too little, too late as Springfield held on for the 73-68 victory.
 
Ithaca College 75, Catholic University 63
 

Round 1 🔜 #GoBombers | #MakeItCount | #D3hoops pic.twitter.com/sQO0bGUgsG

— Ithaca Women's Basketball (@IthacaWBB) March 4, 2022

 
Inside the Box Score

• The Bombers had three starters score in double digits on Friday evening, with graduate student Grace Cannon scoring a team-high 14 points, to go along with seniors Cara Volpe and Lindsey Abertelli who chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. 
• Emily Dorn provided much-needed support off the bench scoring 11 points while notching three boards and getting one steal. 
• The Bombers defense suffocated the Cardinals in the third quarter, recording four blocks and 2 steals, and limiting the Cardinals to just seven points within the 10-minute period.
• The Bombers defense limited the Cardinals to a measly 32.8% from the field and only allowed them to drain four three-pointers. 
• The No.22/19 ranked team in Division III according to WBCA and D3hoops.com won their 20^th-straight game, which is a program record.

 
How It Happened

• The Bombers got the scoring started one minute into the contest with Grace Cannon nailing her first two free throws. The Cardinals followed-up with two free throws of their own, making and missing one. 
• IC would quickly run out to 6–1 lead, after made jumpers from seniors Cara Volpe and Lindsey Abertelli. Volpe proved to be the spark plug early for the Bombers, making two more layups which improved to Bombers' lead to 10–6, halfway through the first quarter. 
• At the back end of the first quarter, the Bombers went on an 11–3 run to bring their lead to 10. The Cardinals answered quickly with a 4–0 scoring spurt of their own, cutting the lead down to 17–12 at the end of the first frame. 
• Junior Erin Doherty continued the Cardinals run, nailing a three-pointer, which got the scoring started in the second and cut the Bomber's lead down to 17–15. The Cardinals continued to find the bottom of the basket, extending their run to 12–0 following two made free throws and a layup from junior Rachel Bussanich, tying the game at 17 points apiece. 
• The Cardinals took their first lead of the contest with a layup from Bussanich. Neither team was able to materialize a significant lead, with both teams trading buckets, midway through the second. 
• In the final seconds of the second quarter, freshman Carly Mulvaney made a layup to give the Cardinals a 35–34 lead but at the buzzer, junior Natalie Smith nailed a three-pointer to give the Bombers a 37–25 lead at the half. 

 

Buzzer at the half…

BANG💥#GoBombers | #MakeItCount | #D3hoops pic.twitter.com/vukTAdjByd

— Ithaca Women's Basketball (@IthacaWBB) March 5, 2022

 

• The Bombers would open up the second half on fire, going on an 8–2 scoring run after a three-point splash from Camryn Coffey to go along with layups from both Abertelli and Cannon. To go along with the run, Cannon recorded two huge blocks right in front of the Bombers' student section, which got them fired up and on their feet.
• With 3:44 remaining in the third quarter, Coffey nailed another trey extending the Bomber lead to 14 points. Off the bench, Emily Dorn made her presence felt, scoring three points right after the Coffey splash, extending the score to 55–38. 
• Early in the fourth, The Cardinals were able to cut their deficit down to 10 points, but a good jumper and three-pointer from sophomore Hannah Polce to go along with a layup from Dorn boosted the lead back to 15. 
• The Cardinals were never able to start any kind of run in the fourth quarter, going almost basket for basket with the Bombers all the way down to the buzzer. The Bombers finished with the 12-point lead at 75-63.
• Coach Dan Raymond, Grace Cannon and Lindsey Albertelli sat down for the postgame press conference that can be seen below.