NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team outlasted New Paltz on Saturday afternoon to earn its seventh victory of the season. The Bombers held on late to win, 74-73 as they shot 41.9% from the field and 3-of-13 from downtown as they outscored the Hawks in each of the first three quarters.
Hannah Polce led all scorers pouring in a game-high 21 points as she also gathered five rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Bombers was
June Dickson who netted 10. New Paltz opened on an 8-2 run, but Ithaca established its presence in the paint to tie it up 10-10 after back-to-back buckets from
Anya Watkins and
Annabella Yorio. The Hawks would fight back securing a 14-9 lead with a little over two minutes left in the period, but Ithaca closed the period hot seeing shots made from
June Dickson and a last second effort from
Tori Drevna that made it 16-13.
The Bombers would open a seven point advantage when Drevna assisted on a
Camryn Coffey layup making it 20-13 with 8:58 left in the half. IC would keep its lead seeing key shots made from
Tori Drevna Camryn Coffey and Elizabth Majka. New Paltz continued to fight back and were down by two after a pair of Morgan Hammell free throws (30-28), but back-to-back jumpers from
Hannah Polce and
June Dickson gave the Bombers breathing room. IC went into the halftime break leading 34-30.
It was another tight quarter with Ithaca outscoring New Paltz 18-17 and leading 52-47 after the first 30 minutes of play. Junie Dickson had IC up 38-32 after she knocked down a transition jumper. Polce would convert on an and-one opportunity with 5:55 putting her team up seven (43-36). The senior guard hit another jumper which saw Ithaca up 49-42 with under three minutes left. She knocked down a pair of free throws down the stretch to add to her scoring total.
New Paltz would draw within five (58-53) but on the ensuing possession
Tori Drevna knocked down a shot in the paint with 7:11 left. The Hawks would bring it within one on two separate occasion and finally tied it with a Jenny Walton 3-pointer with 3:29 left that made it 70-70. Baskets were hard to come by during the final few minutes of play but Ithaca made the most of its tough defense and a layup plus two free throw from
Hannah Polce to preserve the 74-73 win.
Ithaca College (7-3, 2-1 Liberty League) have now won three-straight and will return to action in the New Year when they host Union College on Friday, January 5 at 5:30 p.m.
