ROCHESTER, N.Y. - In a gritty season opener, the Ithaca College women's basketball team and the St. John Fisher Cardinals went toe-to-toe before Ithaca pulled out a 58-52 win on Tuesday evening.
The history between the two teams was pretty even going into the game with the Bombers winning 37 and the Cardinals winning 34. The Bombers lost the most recent matchup 73-67 but had won six straight meetings from the 2015-16 season through the 2023-24 season.
The game started with a scoring drought, as both teams combined for only 11 points in the first six minutes. The Bombers started 3-for-14 from the field, while the Cardinals went 2-for-8. The Bombers' defense was dominant through the first nine minutes, holding the Cardinals to four points, but Julia Perales hit a 3-pointer and Hannah Ferguson added a jumper to trim the Bombers' lead to 13-9 heading into the second quarter.
Ithaca fired back, starting the second quarter with a 7-0 run in the first 90 seconds. The Bombers remained in control, building a 30-14 lead at the 4:00 mark and improving their field goal percentage to 40.6%. They went into the locker room holding a 32-22 lead. It was a low-scoring game as both teams struggled from beyond the arc — Ithaca went 2-for-16 from 3-point range, while the Cardinals went 2-for-11.
Zoraida Icabalceta led the Bombers with eight points and a 66.7% field goal percentage, while
Tori Drevna added seven points.
The Bombers started the second half on a stronger note, making four of their first five shots from the field. They missed their next five shots but continued to outscore the Cardinals in the 3rd quarter. It was the Bombers defense that was telling the story of the game, as they forced six turnovers in the third quarter. However, their scoring drought continued and it caused the Cardinals to cut the deficit to nine points to end the third quarter.
The Cardinals came out firing, cutting the lead to four points in the first minute of the fourth quarter. The Bombers had no answer for Presleigh Brunner, who reached 20 points with a 3-pointer at the 9:03 mark. The Cardinals' next highest scorer was Valerosa Gambitta with just five points at that point of the game. Brunner kept her performance up, scoring two consecutive layups to cut the Bombers' lead to 46-44 at the 5:37 mark. Gambitta tied the game at the 4:08 mark, prompting the Bombers to call a timeout. The Bombers' 3-point struggles continued, as they were 0-for-8 from beyond the arc at that point. The Cardinals took a 48-46 lead at the 3:51 mark.
However,
Tori Drevna proved to be clutch, tying the score and then firing a pass for a
Madalyn Barrows layup to take a 52-48 lead at the 2:46 mark. With 35 seconds less, Brunner made a key basket to cut the Bombers' lead to 53-48, but Ithaca sealed the game at the free-throw line and came away with a 58-52 win.
With the win, the Bombers start their season 1-0 and will gear up to face their rivals SUNY Cortland at 5:30 p.m. November 13 in Cortland, N.Y.
