ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca College women's basketball team looks to make their seventh-straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season after making their 18th overall tournament appearance just a year ago. The Bombers are scheduled to play 25 regular season contests during the 2023-24 campaign, including 11 at home inside the friendly confines of Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers will play 18 games against Liberty League opponents as part of their regular season schedule as they won the 2022-23 Liberty League regular season title and were runners-up in the postseason tournament falling to Skidmore in the Liberty League Championship.
 
The Bombers finished the 2022-23 season with a phenomenal 24-5 record, winning the regular season Liberty League title. Ithaca lost the Liberty League Championship game to Skidmore College in nail-biting fashion, 54-52, but was granted an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament due to their success throughout the season. After defeating La Roche University, 58-42, in the first round, the Bombers fell to Marietta College in the second round, 44-42.
 
Back for his 24th season as head coach, Dan Raymond will once again be at the helm for the Bombers. Raymond will be joined by assistant coaches Mary Mazzella, Jordan Beers and Jim Mullins.
 
The winning expectation that has been instilled in the program carries on from year to year, and coach Raymond believes this year's squad will continue to hold themselves to a high standard.
 
"We expect to compete at the highest level possible with several players stepping into new roles," Raymond said. "The players want to embrace the challenge of establishing their mark on the history of the program."
 
Despite losing a couple of seniors to graduation, the Bombers will be returning with a couple of key contributors from last season in Camryn Coffey, Hannah Polce, Annabella Yorio, and Zoraida Icabalceta.

Coffey appeared in 28 of the Bombers 29 games, averaging 8.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Polce and Yorio played in all 29 games, with Polce averaging 6.8 points, four rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game, while Yorio averaged 5.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. In her first season on South Hill, Zorida Icabalceta showed a lot of promise, averaging 5.5 points, 2.1 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game as she will look to providing a scoring punch within the starting lineup.
 
The Bombers are also looking forward to welcoming several new additions to the squad, including graduate transfer student June Dickson. Dickson previously played at Cal Poly for three seasons, ranking third on the team last season in three-point percentage shooting it at a 27.5% clip. Dickson will look to balance out the scoring for a roster that lost some key scorers after last season including Emily Dorn who was the eighth All-American in program history as a WBCA Honorable Mention selection.
 
The team also added five first years to the program including Shana Desir, Elizabeth Majka, Grace McNamara, Aila Dervisevic and Tori Drevna with each looking to get acclimated to the collegiate game. With the combination of players both old and new, team chemistry will be important to the success of the Bombers this season. Early on, the team is prioritizing chemistry and leaning into their respective roles.
 
"The players are getting to know and understand each other's strengths, as are the coaches, which is the priority at this point in order to build team chemistry and cohesiveness", Raymond said. "Our student-athletes realize the challenges they face throughout the rigors of our long season with so many new additions as well as returning players its our goal to grow every day."
 
The Bombers non-conference schedule will begin with its season-opener at crosstown rivals SUNY Cortland on Thursday, November 9. Other non-conference contests will include the home-opener against Trinity College (Nov. 13), FDU-Florham (Nov. 18), St. John Fisher University (Nov. 28), the University of Rochester (Dec. 6), and will conclude at SUNY New Paltz on Saturday, December 9. The Bombers open up Liberty League play on Friday, December 1 when they go to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to face Vassar College.

As released by the Liberty League conference office on Wednesday afternoon, Ithaca College was selected to finish second in the 2023-24 Liberty League women's basketball preseason poll. The Bombers received a pair of first place votes, but Skidmore got eight votes and were voted to finish atop the league by the conference coaches.

2023-24 Liberty League Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

1. Skidmore, 80 (8)
2. Ithaca, 74 (2)
3. Vassar, 57
4. St. Lawrence, 53
5. RPI, 43
6. RIT, 41
7. Union, 39
8. William Smith, 34
9. Clarkson, 20
10. Bard, 9

*First-place votes are in parentheses
 
The 2024 Liberty League Tournament will begin on February 20 with first round matchups and then the semifinals take play on February 23, with the final commencing on Sunday, February 25.