Ithaca Falls Just Shy to New Paltz, 83-80, in NCAA Second Round
ITHACA, N.Y. – A valiant fourth quarter comeback effort came up just short for the Ithaca College women's basketball team on Saturday night inside Ben Light Gymnasium, as the Bombers dropped an 83-80 decision to SUNY New Paltz in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. Ithaca finishes the 2017 season with a 25-4 record, while New Paltz improves to 20-8 and advances to the Sweet 16.
The Bombers trailed by 13 points at the end of the third quarter, 69-56, and battled all the way back to an 80-80 tie with 1:35 left in the contest on a breakaway layup by junior
Jordan Beers. On the ensuing possession for New Paltz, Morgan Roessler drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:10 to go to give the Hawks an 83-80 advantage – the eventual final score. Ithaca had three opportunities over the final 47 seconds to send the game to overtime, but could not connect from behind the arc.
Senior
Ali Ricchiuti eclipsed 1,000 points for her career with 23 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go along with four assists. Fellow senior
Erin Ferguson poured in a team-high 24 points on 10-of-17 from the floor and notched a double-double with 11 rebounds. Junior
Julie Yacovoni 7-for-9 from the field for 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Beers contributed 14 points.
Ithaca and New Paltz both shot 50.0-percent for the game, as the Bombers went 35-for-70 and the Hawks were 27-for-54. New Paltz held a distinct advantage in the contest from 3-point range and at the free point line, as they went 9-for-15 from beyond the arc and 20-for-24 at the line. Ithaca was 3-for-15 from distance and 7-for-13 at the stripe.
Both teams came out shooting over the first five minutes of the game, as the counterparts played to a 13-13 tie by the initial media timeout. The Bombers went 5-of-10 over the five-minute stretch, while New Paltz was 6-of-10. There would be three more ties in the quarter up until New Paltz hit a 3-point with 2:14 remaining, and the Hawks ended the period with a 24-21 lead.
The Hawks would build a nine-point lead, 31-22, just 2:30 into the second quarter, but Ithaca battled back to a 33-33 deadlock with 3:55 to go. During the run, Ricchiuti scored her 1,000th career point. Over the final 3:55, New Paltz scored the Bombers, 12-2, and took a 45-35 advantage to the break.
Ricchiuti netted 10 points in the half on 5-of-10 shooting, while Ferguson also notched 10 points to go along with six rebounds. Junior
Julie Yacovoni went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and Beers added five points.
New Paltz was led by Roessler in the first half with 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 7-for-7 at the free throw line. She would finish the game with 25 points.
In the third quarter, New Paltz went up by 13 points at 53-40 with 7:07 on the clock, but the Bombers fought back to a 53-46 difference just over a minute later on a basket from Ferguson, a 3-pointer by Beers and free throw from Yacovoni. From there, the disparity fluctuated between seven and 11 points until Kit Small and Roesseler made three straight free throws to give New Paltz its largest lead of the night, 68-54, with just over a minute left. After a bucket from sophomore
Meghan Pickell, the Hawks wrapped up the quarter with another make at the stripe.
For New Paltz, Lindsay Bettke led all players with 26 points and went 11-for-20 overall and 4-for-8 from distance.
The 25 victories for Ithaca are the third-most in program history, and the senior class wraps up their careers with an overall record of 90-26, which includes three trips to the NCAA Tournament, an appearance in the Elite 8 and two Empire 8 Conference titles.