Ithaca Advances to Empire 8 Final
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's basketball team defeated Nazareth, 72-53, in the Empire 8 Conference semifinals on Friday night in Ben Light Gymnasium. With the victory, Ithaca is now 22-4 overall and will play in its fourth consecutive Empire 8 title game tomorrow afternoon.
Senior
Ally Mnich hit the first shot of the game on a three-pointer just 58 seconds in off a pass from junior
Keri Steele. Nazareth would take its first lead of the contest on back-to-back baskets by the 16:22 mark, but the Bombers answered with a 9-0 over the next 3:22 to build a 12-4 edge. The run was highlighted by four points from senior
Francesca Cotrupe.
After the Golden Flyers crept back to within four points at 12-8 with just under 12 minutes to play, sophomore
Alex Gilligan notched Ithaca's next five points to spark a 7-2 scoring stretch to put the Bombers up, 19-10, with 8:17 remaining.
From there, Ithaca maintained at least a seven-point spread until Nazareth hit a pair of free throws to pull to within six points at 23-17 with 3:27 on the clock.
Cotrupe scored the Bombers' final five points of the half, and with 21 seconds left, she gave Ithaca its largest advantage of the frame, 30-19, with an and-one. Cotrupe nearly posted a double-double in the first half with nine points and eight rebounds.
Nazareth cut things back to single digits on a layup as the buzzer sounded to end the first half with a 30-21 score.
The Bombers held Nazareth to 27.9-percent (8-for-29) shooting in the first half, and shot 36.7-percent on the offensive end.
In the second half, the Bombers built a 16-point cushion within the first four minutes, 39-23, on six points from sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti. Nazareth answered with a three to pull back to within 13 points, but Ithaca quickly scored four more points - all from Cotrupe - to go back up by 17 points at 43-26 with 14:36 left.
Ithaca would go scoreless for over four minutes which allowed Nazareth to go on an 8-0 run and bring the game back to single digits at 43-34. Freshman
Jordan Beers ended Ithaca's drought with three points on a jumper and made foul shot to push the difference back out to double digits, where it would remain for the rest of the game.
Over the final 10 minutes, the Bombers steadily increased their lead, and reached 22 points at 70-48 with 1:34 left in regulation before securing the victory, 72-53.
Cotrupe notched her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 15 rebounds. The 19 points is a career-high for Cotrupe, while the 15 boards match a season-best.
Ricchiuti also reached double digits in scoring with 11 to go along with four rebounds. Gilligan finished with eight points, while Steele contributed 10 rebounds and seven points. Mnich added eight points.
Senior
Samantha Klie chipped in six assists, six points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Ithaca shot 44.1-percent overall in the game (26-for-59) and 54.5-percent from three-point range (6-for-11). The Bombers also outrebounded Nazareth, 46-33.
Next up for Ithaca will be St. John Fisher tomorrow at 4 p.m. for an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship. Fisher defeated Stevens in the second semifinal on Friday night, 75-61.
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