The Ithaca College women’s basketball team took down the St. Lawrence University Saints on Feb. 9 in a 60–51 victory to kick off a doubleheader weekend.
This was the second meeting between the teams this season, with the first contest also going to the Bombers. This time, the Bombers were playing short-handed because junior forward Annabella Yorio, the Bombers’ third leading scorer, was on a school-related trip over the weekend.
The first quarter started off close, with both teams familiar with the other’s offensive strategy. Consecutive threes from senior guard Hannah Polce, who had eight points in the first quarter, helped the Bombers carve out a 19–9 lead to take into the second quarter.
The Saints would not go quietly as they opened the second quarter by going bucket for bucket with the Bombers. Both squads were locked in a three-possession game for most of the quarter, with a great defensive stand by the Bombers at the end of the half, keeping it 33–23 going into halftime.
The third quarter saw more of the same, with the Saints putting the Bombers on their heels before a rapid response kept them at bay. Saints’ first-year forward Elizabeth Flynn put up eight of her 15 points in the third to close the deficit, but the Bombers were still in charge, taking a 46–38 lead into the final period of play.
The Saints were red-hot to start the fourth, getting within three points of the Bombers for the first time since the first quarter. However, the Bombers never lost poise, with first-year guard Tori Drevna finding Polce for another triple which proved to be the dagger. The Bombers ended the night as the owners of a three-game win streak.
Drevna, who was one of three Bombers to finish with 13 points or more,said she made sure to take what the defense was giving her.
“Throughout the whole game they didn’t switch on ball screens,” Drevna said. “So I just cut really hard off those screens and tried to get to the middle of the floor for either a shot or a quick pass.”
With this being the second meeting this season between the squads, head coach Dan Raymond said he knew he had an advantage going into the game due to his knowledge of the opposing offense and the versatility of his own.
“Defensively, we used the same principles as last time and the nice thing we did was we held a team… to just 13 3-point attempts,” Raymond said. “So what I’m most proud of this team for is that we are not doing the same thing every game, we have to adapt to what the other team is doing. For example, against Skidmore and RPI, we were playing a much softer defense, and tonight we played a much tighter defense. We’ve had to tweak our offense to try and get more scoring opportunities for certain people, and they’re doing a great job following through what we’re asking them to do.”
The celebration will be short-lived for the South Hill squad as they have less than a 24-hour turnaround for their next game, with another home stand against the Clarkson University Golden Knights at 2 p.m. Feb. 10 in Ben Light Gymnasium.
Despite the lack of rest time, Raymond said he feels that his team is aptly prepared for the second game in as many days.
“Tomorrow will be totally different because Clarkson plays Zone,” Raymond said. “They’re the only team in the league who does that, so we’ll get a shootaround tomorrow morning and go over some stuff and be ready to go.”
