Bombers Advance to E8 Title Game
HOBOKEN, N.J. – The third-seeded Ithaca College women's basketball team will make its return to the Empire 8 title game after holding on to defeat the second-seeded St. John Fisher College Cardinals, 69-65, in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Championship tournament on Friday in Canavan Arena. With the win, Ithaca, which has now won five games in a row, will make its 11th appearance in the title game in the last 13 years and moves to 16-10 overall and 12-5 in conference play.
With the loss, Fisher, currently ranked 26
th nationally and No. 5 in the NCAA Division III East Region, falls to 22-4 overall. The Cardinals, who had won eight straight and 17 of their last 18, will now wait until Monday afternoon to find out if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
Ithaca will face host and top seed Stevens Institute of Technology at 4 p.m. on Saturday with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. Stevens held off third-seeded Nazareth, 76-61, in the tournament's other semifinal.
In a game that featured 18 lead-changes and 15 ties, Ithaca went on an 8-2 run over the final 2:30 to pull out the win.
The Bombers got off to a hot start after jumping out to an early 5-0 run after back-to-back jumpers by
Jordan Beers and
Keri Steele. The Cardinals responded with four points of their own, but Ithaca pounded the ball inside to extend its lead to 11-7 after lay-ups on three straight possessions.
The lead would change hands three times over the course of the final 1:43 before Fisher's
Emily Piacentini connected on a deep 3-pointer from just inside half court to hold a two-point edge, 20-18, at the end of the opening period.
As the second half got underway, neither team was able to hold on to the lead for long.
Annie Giannone would give Ithaca the lead 31 seconds into the second quarter after sinking a triple from the corner, but Fisher countered with a bucket inside the paint to take a one-point lead, 22-21, with just over a minute gone by in the frame.
The Cardinals would control the game for the next two minutes but were never able to build more than a two-point advantage.
Ali Ricchiuti would give Ithaca its first lead since the opening possession of the quarter after burying a jumper from the right side with
Erin Ferguson getting credit for the assist. After the lead changed hands once again, the Bombers would string together four unanswered points to take their largest lead of the quarter, 30-27, but as had been the case all game, the lead would quickly evaporate with three straight free throws by the Cardinals to knot things at 30-30.
Ithaca would recover, however, scoring five of the quarter's final seven points including a buzzer-beating lay-up by
Erin Woop to hold a 35-32 lead at intermission. In all, the first half was a see-saw affair, featuring nine lead changes overall and four ties.
After weathering a 7-2 run by Fisher to open the third quarter, the Bombers would orchestrate a 10-2 run including eight unanswered points to take a 45-39 lead with 5:47 left to play in the frame.
Ithaca would build its largest lead of the game, 49-42, after a pair of freebies by Beers, but the Cardinals would use an 11-3 run that lasted nearly four minutes of action to take a one-point lead, 53-52, before Beers would stop the bleeding with a mid-range jumper just inside the paint.
Leading 56-53 to start the fourth and final period, Ithaca would turn the ball over on consecutive possessions and Fisher would capitalize, scoring four straight points to take a 57-56 lead. Fisher would maintain control for the next six minutes of play, included two made free throws by
Caroline Robertson with 2:44 left to put the Cardinals up 63-61. But Ricchiuti would answers as she hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Bombers the lead, 64-63, with 1:44 left to go. St. John Fisher would tie the score 30 seconds later with a free throw, but Ithaca would take over during the final 60 seconds en route to the four-point win, 69-65.
Beers finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Steele added 13 points in the win while
Erin Ferguson notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Woop contributed eight points and Ricchiuti had six points, five assists and four rebounds overall.
Senior
Mary Kate Cusack scored 19 points for Fisher, while Robertson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, marking her first career double-double.