Ithaca takes over first place with win over Stevens, 61-42

2/14/2015 7:30:54 PM

Ithaca 61, Stevens 42
The Ithaca College women's basketball team defeated the Stevens Institute of Technology Saturday afternoon, dropping the Ducks by a score of 61-42 on Senior Day at Ben Light Gymnasium. The win improves the Bombers' overall record to 19-4, including a mark of 13-1 in the Empire 8. Stevens falls to 19-3 overall and 12-2 in conference play. Ithaca's victory moves the Bombers into first place in the Empire 8, while the Ducks slide down to second in the conference.

Senior Ally Mnich led the Bombers with 11 points. She also recorded two assists, two steals and six rebounds. Classmate Francesca Cotrupe chipped in with eight points, and tied for the team lead with 10 rebounds. Sophomore Alex Gilligan led all reserves with nine points, while classmate Erin Ferguson tied for the team lead with 10 boards in just 10 minutes of play.  

Another tight defensive start was the story of Saturday's contest, as neither team was able to reach the 20-point plateau at the end of the opening frame. A layup from Stevens opened the half, but a three pointer from sophomore Ali Ricchiuti countered the Ducks to put the Bombers ahead early, 3-2. The game featured two ties and two lead changes over the next six minutes, culminating in a 10-10 score with 11:42 to go in the half.

Stevens then broke the stalemate with seven-straight points, taking a 17-10 lead on the Bombers with 5:28 remaining. Mnich responded for Ithaca, pulling the Bombers ahead of the Ducks thanks to three-straight three pointers in consecutive possessions. Mnich's offensive output in the closing minutes swung the momentum back in Ithaca's favor, giving the Bombers a 19-18 lead at the break.  

After a brief tie to start the second, Ithaca began to pull away from the Ducks. The Bombers took the contest's first double digit lead (44-34) with 9:43 remaining in the frame, thanks to a 25-16 run in their favor. Ithaca took off from there, dominating the Ducks for the remainder of the game. The Bombers outscored Stevens 42-24 in the second half, easily securing the 61-42 conference victory.

The game marked the final regular season home game for four Bomber seniors, including Geena Brady, Samantha Klie, Ally Mnich and Francesca Cotrupe.

St. John Fisher 73, Nazareth 52
The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team earned a 73-52 win over East Avenue rival Nazareth College on Senior Day at Fisher's Bobby Wanzer Court.
 
With the win, Fisher improves to 17-5 overall and 10-3 in the Empire 8 Conference, while the Golden Flyers fall to 14-8, 9-4.  The Cardinals are 8-1 in their last nine games, avenging their only loss during the run.

Junior Mary Kate Cusack scored 30 points in the win and tied the Fisher single-game record for 3-pointers in a game with eight.  The record was first set back in 2001.
 
It was a back-and-forth game early on with Nazareth taking a 21-20 lead with just over seven minutes left in the opening half.  Fisher, however, would take the lead for good after going on a 15-4 run late in the period and led 35-27 at the break.
 
Fisher led 37-30 two minutes into the second half, but the Cardinals went on a 16-4 run over the next four minutes to pull away with Cusack scoring 14 during the pivotal spurt.
 
Cusack's 30 points – one of shy of her career-high – came on 10-of-14 shooting, including 8-of-10 from beyond the arc.  She also finished with a team-high six rebounds and three steals.
 
Senior Portia Velasco tallied 11 points, eight assists and four steals in her final home game, while fellow senior Sydney Bloomstein tallied eight points in the win.
 
Senior Meghan Ermi also scored, while classmate Brooke Seavitt, who hasn't appeared in a game after suffering a season-ending knee injury back in November, started and played the opening five seconds.

Hartwick 47, Elmira 46
Hartwick's women's hoop team took the lead on a pair of Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) free throws with 2:40 remaining and picked up defensive stops on Elmira's final four possessions to emerge with a 47-46 Empire 8 Conference victory on Saturday at EC's Speidel Gymnasium. The win is Hartwick's second in its last three games and the Hawks improve their record to 7-16 overall and 5-9 in league play.
           
Following a three-pointer from Kelsey Geisler with 3:09 to play which gave Elmira a 46-45 advantage, the Hawks picked up two offensive rebounds on misses before Vonasek went to the line to put the Hawks ahead for good.
           
Jess Bellai (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) picked up a steal on EC's next possession with 2:17 left, and after a Hartwick miss, Christina Graziadei (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) blocked Danielle Cleary's layup attempt and grabbed the rebound with 1:25 to play. On the Soaring Eagles' next possession with 42 ticks remaining, Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) stole an in-bounds pass to give 'Wick the ball back.
           
The Hawks ran the clock down and couldn't convert on their field goal attempt with under 15 seconds left and the hosts had the ball back with 11.5 seconds under their own basket. With roughly two seconds left, Cleary had a look from three-point range which would have won it but it bounced off the rim and the Hawks got the win.
           
Vonasek and Stone finished the game with 13 points each to lead 'Wick. Vonasek also tied for a team-best with six rebounds with Graziadei and Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland).
           
Hartwick started strong scoring on six of their first nine attempts from the floor for a 15-7 lead with under 13 minutes left in the first half. But a Graziadei bucket with 9:09 left would mark the final points of the half for the Hawks. 'Wick missed its final 11 shots from the floor and five free throws in the span as EC led at the break, 21-17.
           
Both teams shot under 30% in the opening half but the difference was on the free-throw line. The Soaring Eagles made 12-of-14 (85.7%) as a team, while the Hawks were an abysmal 1-for-10 (10%).
           
Neither team would lead by more than three points for the first 11 minutes of the second half. The score was tied six times with the lead changing hands once.
           
Two straight Cleary three's and then a layup with 7:34 remaining pushed the Elmira lead to its biggest of the day, 41-33. But ten straight Hawk points put Hartwick ahead 43-41. An old-fashioned three-point play from Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown), a three from Stone, two free throws from Kelsey Brown (Barrington, NH/Tilton School), and two Vonasek free throws contributed to the spurt. The two teams traded points before Geisler gave Elmira its final lead of the contest.
           
Hartwick would make 42% of its shots in the second half and 88% of its free throws. The Hawks finished shooting 36% (18-for-50) from the floor. They held Elmira to just 26% (12-for-46) for the game. The Soaring Eagles held a large edge in rebounds, 42-30.
           
Stone hit 6-of-12 shots to go along with three rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Graziadei added four points and three blocks to her six rebounds. Foreman contributed five points and Cirillo notched six points, four rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal. Bellai had a game-high three steals and tied for a game-best with three assists.

Utica 56, Houghton 40
The Utica College women's basketball team snapped a six game losing streak Saturday downing Empire 8 rival Houghton College, 56-40, at the Nielsen Physical Education Center.  Junior Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor.

UC's Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) added 12 points and a team-high seven boards while also shooting 6-of-13 from the field. Freshman Ashley Mayo (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) and junior Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) chipped in with a combined 10 points, 10 assists and four boards in the victory.

The Pioneers move their overall record to 10-14 while improving to 6-9 in league play.  UC returns home on Friday as its hosts Alfred University for Senior Day. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Clark Athletic Center. 

The teams traded baskets over the initial 10 minutes of play as UC managed a three point lead, 11-8, with 9:15 left in the first half.  The Pioneers then began to click on both sides of the floor as they went off on a 20-3 run to close out the first half of play with a commanding 31-11 advantage. Utica held the home team to 20.0% on 5-of-20 shooting over the first 20 minutes of action.

HC outscored Utica 29-25 in the second half but could not overcome the first half deficit as UC snapped a six game skid en route to its 10^th win of the season and sixth in conference play.

The Highlanders were guided by Hannah Manwaring's 10 points and four rebounds while Maise Piper and Christel Enriquez totaled a combined 10 points and 17 grabs.  Pipher scored eight points along with a game-high nine boards.

Alfred 98, SUNY Canton 88
The Alfred University women's basketball team won its second game in a row when the Saxons topped non-conference foe, SUNY Canton 98-88, Saturday night at the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
 
Before the game, the Saxons honored seniors Emilea Harrison (Conesus, NY/Dansville) and Harley Cleary (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy). Both soon-to-be-alumni finished the game in double-digits in scoring but it was Cleary's career-high 32 points that led the Saxons to a win over the visiting Kangaroos.
 
Cleary was 10-of-23 and 6-of-13 from the arc while making 6-of-10 from the free throw line. She also added a team-high of five steals in the Saxons' season-high scoring effort (AU bested Penn Tech College 101-44 on Sunday, December 8, 2013 at home).
 
Freshman McKaylee Croll (Perry, NY/Perry) followed Cleary's performance with 23 points and seven assists while having a perfect showing from the charity line. Sophomore Amanda Off (New Berlin, NY/Unadilla Valley) posted 18 points and added four rebounds.
 
Sophomore Maddi Flint (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) hit 50 percent of her field goals for a 12-point evening and Harrison finished with her 11 points and a team-high nine boards.
 
The Saxons held the distinct advantage of the shooting game from outside of the paint, having only made 32 of their 98 points from within the purple strip while 56 of Canton's 88 points were from layups and inside jumpers.
 
Canton's Taylor Saltus led the Roos with 30 points, having scored 24 of them in the first half with the majority coming off of fast breaks.
 
In a game that saw three lead changes and was in the hands of the visiting Kangaroos during almost the entire first half, the Saxons cut a Canton eight-point lead to one and then claimed a 45-44 advantage going into halftime with the help of freshman Taylor Kelley (Andover, NY/Andover), Off and five points from Croll with 1:40 left.
 
Canton responded immediately after the break with a three-pointer from Logan Tallman for a 47-45 Kangaroo lead. Flint brought things even again at 18:54 with a jumper to make it 47-47. On the next possession, Off stole the ball from Saltus which opened up a Cleary three-pointer off a Harrison assist to give the Saxons a 50-47 advantage. AU never looked back as they built their lead to as much as 13 points deep into the second 20 minutes.