Ithaca clinches top seed for E8 Tournament
Ithaca 70, Nazareth 60
The Ithaca College women's basketball team locked up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Conference Championship with a 70-60 road win at Nazareth
on Tuesday evening. With the win, Ithaca is now 20-4 and 14-1 in the Empire 8, while Nazareth falls to 14-9, 9-5.
The 20 victories marks the sixth consecutive year that Ithaca has eclipsed that win total and the 11th time since head coach
Dan Raymond took over the program in 2000-01. It also marks the seventh-straight season that the Bombers will head into the conference tournament as the top seed, and ninth overall.
The Bombers opened the game with nine unanswered points over the first
2:33 on back-to-back three-pointers from senior
Ally Mnich and sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti, followed by a jumper, and-one, from junior
Keri Steele before Nazareth cracked the scoreboard its next trip down the floor.
Steele then hit a three to put Ithaca up, 12-2, at the
16:23 mark. The Golden Flyers called a timeout to regroup and proceeded to go on a 15-0 run over the next five minutes to build a 17-12 lead. Senior
Geena Brady ended Ithaca's drought on a layup with
10:30 to go which sparked an 11-0 run for the Bombers. Mnich then drilled another from long range to knot the conference showdown up at 17-17. Sophomore
Erin Ferguson and freshman
Julie Yacovoni put in the next six points to cap off the run and gave Ithaca a 23-17 edge with
7:26 left in the half.
Another run ensued for Nazareth, as the Golden Flyers scored 10 of the next 12 points to regain control of the contest at 27-25 with
4:43 on the clock. Ithaca quickly took the lead back on a free throw from senior
Samantha Klie and jumper by Ricchiuti within the next
1:18.
With
2:43 remaining, Steele made a pair from the line to put the Bombers up, 30-27, but Nazareth answered right back with a layup. Ithaca finished the final
2:09 with a three-pointer from sophomore
Alex Gilligan and baskets from Steele and senior
Francesca Cotrupe to send the Bombers into halftime with a 37-32 advantage.
The teams were nearly identical in shooting during the first half, as Ithaca shot 46.7-percent (14-for-30) and Nazareth went 13-for-28 (46.4-percent).
In the second half, the Bombers quickly built their lead back up to double digits over the first two minutes and maintained that cushion for what was essentially the remainder of the game.
Nazareth cut its deficit to eight points, 50-42, with
14:06 left, but Ithaca regained the 10-point edge just four seconds later. The difference would stay between 10 and 16 points up until the final minute of play when the Golden Flyers closed to a seven-point spread at 65-58 with 45 seconds on the clock.
The Bombers connected on 5-of-6 free throws over the final 44 seconds to come away with a 70-60 victory to secure the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament which is set to take place on
Feb. 27 and 28. Ithaca took down Nazareth by the same score earlier this season.
Steele finished the contest with a career-high 21 points on an efficient night from the floor, going 6-for-8 overall (3-for-5 from three-point range) and 6-for-7 from the line. Steele also grabbed four rebounds to go along with two steals.
Klie matched a career-high with 13 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
Mnich, Ricchiuti, Ferguson and Gilligan all chipped in six points, while Cotrupe, Brady and Yacovoni added four apiece.
Cotrupe pulled down six rebounds, while Yacovoni tallied four with three steals.
The Bombers finished the game shooting 44.4-percent overall (24-for-54) and from three-point distance (8-for-18). Ithaca also made 14-of-20 attempts at the line. Nazareth was held to just 25.9-percent shooting in the second half.
Elmira 52, Houghton 49 (ot)
The Elmira College women's basketball team (9-14, 5-9 E8) defeated Houghton College (4-21, 1-15 E8) 52-49 in overtime today in an Empire 8 Conference contest. Alex Balara '15 scored the overtime period's last five points and then blocked a potential game-tying shot from the Highlanders in the closing seconds to secure the win for the Soaring Eagles. Balara also led the EC women with a double-double that included a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds.
Karli Pochkar '16 chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, and one steal while Meghan Loya '16 added seven rebounds, six points, and two assists in the win.
The Highlanders started the game off strong with a 14-3 run, however, the Purple and Gold battled back with a 10-2 run to trail by just three points, 16-13. Both teams traded points for the remaining of the first half as Houghton held onto to a 21-17 lead heading into the locker room.
Balara led the EC women with 10 points, four rebounds, two steals, and one assist while Pochkar posted six boards, four points, and one steal in the first half.
The Purple and Gold started the second half with a 4-1 run to trail 22-21 in the first 1:56 in the second stanza. Then, a free throw by the Highlanders gave Houghton a two point, 23-21, lead. Balara responded by giving the Soaring Eagles their first lead of the game, 24-23 after getting fouled, while making a layup, and making the free throw. The Highlanders then went on a 12-7 run to go up 36-30. EC responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game back up at 36 apiece.
Houghton then went on a 10-7 run to take a three point lead with 2:44 left in the second half. A pair of free throws from Balara cut Houghton's lead to just one point and a Loya layup gave Elmira a 47-46 lead with 58 seconds remaining regulation time. Maisie Pipher made a foul shot to tie the game back up at 47-47 with nine seconds left. Time expired before Elmira was able to put up a potential game-winning shot, sending the game into overtime.
After missed opportunities from both teams, Houghton made the first bucket in the overtime period 1:38 in, to go up 49-47. With 1:11 left in overtime, Kelsey Geisler '15 stole the ball from the Highlanders and with just 21 seconds left in the period, Balara drove in and made a layup to tie the game up at 49-49.
With five seconds left in overtime, and second overtime period looming, Balara drove to the basket again and, while getting fouled, made a layup to put EC in the lead, 51-49. Balara made the free throw to give Elmira a three point lead with four seconds remaining. The Highlanders were able to move the ball up the court and even get a three-pointer off, however, the shot was denied as Balara got a piece of the ball on the way up, giving the Soaring Eagles a 52-49 win.
St. John Fisher 82, Alfred 55
Junior
Mary Kate Cusack became the 22
nd player in the 41-year history of women's basketball at St. John Fisher College to score 1,000 points on Tuesday, as the Cardinals picked up an 82-55 win over host Alfred University.
With the win, Fisher improves to 18-5 overall and 11-3 in the Empire 8 Conference.
Ten different players scored for Fisher in the win, with every player seeing at least eight minutes of action.
Cusack, who entered the game needing just six points to reach the historic milestone, scored her 1,000
th point on a layup with 14:05 left in the first half, giving her team an 18-4 lead, and the Cardinals never looked back. The junior guard also moved into second place at Fisher in career 3-pointers with 173 in the win and finished the game with 17 points.
Senior
Portia Velasco led the way for Fisher with 20 points. She became just the sixth player in Fisher history to over the 1,400-point mark for her career.
Fellow senior
Sydney Bloomstein tallied 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, marking the first double-double in her 100-game career.
Emily Piacentini tallied eight points and six steals in the win, while
Nicole Robinson totaled eight points and seven rebounds.
Stevens 71, Muhlenberg 60
Juniors
Kaitlyn Astel,
Miranda Ripken and
Dylan Krause each scored in double-figures Tuesday to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team to a 71-60 win over Muhlenberg College.
The win moved Stevens' record to 20-3, giving it its first 20-win season since the 2010-11 campaign. The loss snapped a four game win streak for Muhlenberg and dropped it to 16-7.
Astel led the Ducks with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Krause and Ripken chipped-in with 13 and 12 points respectively. Freshman
Anna Toke pulled-down a career high nine rebounds in 19 minutes.
As a team the Ducks shot 42.6 percent from the field and forced 11 Muhlenberg turnovers.
After playing to a 9-9 tie through the first five minutes, Muhlenberg rattled-off a 6-0 run to go up 15-9 with just over 13 minutes remaining. Stevens answered with points on back-to-back possessions, but the Mules extended the lead back to five off a three on the ensuing possession.
The Ducks came back to tie the score at 18 midway through the half, and continued the momentum with a 7-0 run capped by a jumper from Ripken. The Mules responded with a 5-0 run to tie the game, but Stevens answered with a 10-0 run to go up 10 with three minutes to go.
Stevens maintained its double-digit lead until a layup from the Mules in the closing minute cut the deficit to nine going into the break.
The Ducks kept a comfortable lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half before points on back-to-back possessions brought the Mules to within four. Stevens answered once again though, first with a jumper from Astel and followed by a pair of free throws from Toke.
The Mules never got closer than nine the rest of the night as Astel and Ripken iced the game with two points each in the final minute.