ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team hosted the University of Rochester for its first home game of the season inside Ben Light Gymnasium, but the Bombers came up short in an 80–70 loss on Tuesday evening.
Rochester opened the scoring with a three-pointer and a putback, but
Tori Drevna answered with a triple to get Ithaca on the board.
Madison Gill added a layup to make it 5–8 early, and later knocked down a three at the five-minute mark to cut the deficit to 11–8. Despite the Bombers' efforts, Rochester closed the first quarter strong and led 20–12 after 10 minutes. Early foul trouble for Ithaca forced multiple substitutions throughout the period.
Gill sparked the second quarter with a three-pointer off an assist from Drevna, but the 'Jackets quickly responded with a layup. A floater from
Grace McNamara at 6:26 brought Ithaca within four, and a big three from
Simone Pintinalli tied the game at 24–24 with 4:34 remaining. Drevna then buried a three to give Ithaca its first lead of the night, but Rochester reclaimed the advantage with a three-point play on the next possession. The Bombers trailed 39–35 at halftime, after Rochester's Frankie Gomez connected on a buzzer-beating layup.
At the halftime break, Ithaca was shooting an impressive 53.3% from three (8-for-15), while Rochester hit 40% (4-for-10). Both teams had 19 rebounds, but Rochester controlled the lead for nearly the majority of the half. Gill and Pintinalli paced Ithaca with eight points each, while Drevna dished out four assists.
Rochester struck first in the second half, but Drevna answered with a three-pointer and later converted a fast-break layup off a pass from
Natalie Tucker to keep Ithaca within striking distance. Pintinalli added another big three late in the third quarter, and
Mary Bernat came up with a key block in the final minute, though the Bombers entered the fourth trailing by 11 (60-49).
Ithaca opened the final frame with back-to-back layups from Gill and Drevna to cut the deficit to seven. Tucker provided a defensive spark and later knocked down a three with 3:02 remaining, but Rochester maintained control and closed out the game, 80–70.
Madison Gill led Ithaca with 19 points, followed by Drevna with 17.
Avery McPeek and Drevna each grabbed seven rebounds, while Drevna also led the team with six assists. Tucker contributed a strong defensive effort, finishing with four steals.
With the loss, the Bombers dropped to 2-4 on the season but will open up Liberty League conference play this weekend. They travel to Poughkeepsie on Friday and will square up against Vassar College at 5:30 p.m. Ithaca will then play at Skidmore on Saturday at 2 p.m.
