Bombers Manhandle Utica 76-49 In Empire 8 Semifinals; Will Host League Final Sunday
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The women's basketball team (20-6) shot a tournament-record 58.6 percent from the floor en route to a 76-49 rout of fourth-seeded Utica (15-11) in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Championship tournament Friday. The top-seeded Bombers will host Stevens (a 66-61 overtime winner over St. John Fisher) in Sunday's final (game time will be either noon or 1 p.m.) with the league's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs at stake.
Junior guard Jess Farley (Pine Valley Central/South Dayton) scored a career-best 24 points to lead the Bombers. Farley scored 15 second-half points and shot a tournament-record 83.3 percent from the floor.
Ithaca has reached the tournament final for three straight years and six times in the tournament's eight years.
The Bombers held Utica to one basket over the game's first 8:12 and took a double-digit lead for good just 5:48 into the game. Their lead swelled to as many as 35 over the defending conference champions midway through the second half.
Freshman guard Kathryn Campbell (Wall/Spring Lake, N.J.) scored 15 points -- including 13 points in the first 7:24 -- and added six rebounds and two assists. Sophomore center Devin Shea (St. Basil Academy/Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) added 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Senior forward Elissa Klie (Ramapo/Wyckoff, N.J.) added 10 points, eight rebounds, four steals and a career-high eight assists.
As a team, the Bombers collected 26 assists on 34 baskets. They scored 15 fast-break points, breaking Utica's press with ease for most of the game. Ithaca also set a tournament record by shooting 50 percent from three-point range (seven of 14).
The win raised Ithaca's all-time advangtage over Utica to 31-10.
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