The Ithaca College women’s basketball team secured a defensively sound win against the Bard College Raptors on Dec. 7 with a score of 71-44 in Ben Light Gymnasium.
Off the heels of a 50-point loss to the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets on Dec. 3, the Bombers upset the Vassar College Brewers, who were projected to finish atop the Liberty League, on Dec. 6. Less than 24 hours later, the Bombers played host to a struggling Raptors squad who was projected to finish at the bottom.
History was well on the Bombers’ side. In 13 all-time matchups, they had never lost to Bard, winning every single match between the two by at least 20 points.
As they have several times this season, the Bombers started slow, falling to an 8-2 deficit with 6:02 left in the first quarter. This deficit would not last, as a spinning layup by sophomore forward Elizabeth Majka would cut the lead to two. The Bombers also tightened up defensively, which led to an 11-0 run to close the quarter. This was capped off by a left wing 3-pointer by senior guard Jillian Payne as time expired.
The second quarter opened with a bang, as graduate student guard Emma Waite hit the catch and shoot 3-pointer, marking her 1000th collegiate career point. A timeout was called, and teammates swarmed Waite to a standing ovation from the crowd.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Waite said. “[My teammates] are really supportive and I feel really celebrated. Being on a new team always comes with nerves, but I really feel like I fit in here.”
The Bombers kept up the momentum for the rest of the quarter, going on two runs with three unanswered baskets to take a double-digit lead into the half.
The scoring exploded for the Bombers in the third quarter, though. Two tough layups by senior forward Anya Watkins, who led the team in rebounds with 9, set the tone offensively. The Bombers shot 55% from the field and scored 12 of their 26 points in the paint at a 75% clip despite the unavailability of senior forward Annabella Yorio, the team’s biggest offensive presence down low.
“We had to adjust what we did,” head coach Dan Raymond said. “We had to find different ways of getting our points in the paint. It wasn’t so much post entries, it was drives and it was really hard cuts and getting the ball into our cutters.”
It was smooth sailing as the Bombers took a 23-point lead into the fourth quarter, allowing some reserve players to get more time on the floor. On the same night that Waite hit 1000, first-year guards Kenzie Purluke and Simone Pintanalli logged the first points of their careers. After Waite’s milestone shot, Pintanalli’s first bucket was the highlight of the game. As she caught the inbound on the baseline, a Bard defender closed in on her. She took one dribble, snatched back, caught her defender stumbling and made the stepback jumper with a hand in her face.
The game ended with 13 different Bombers scoring a field goal and Bard with twice as many turnovers (14) as assists (7). First-year guard Madison Gill and junior guard Zoraida Icabalceta led the way with efficient scoring for the Bombers, as both put up 10 points with field goal percentages above 50%. Icabalceta also led the team in assists with four, and her success lined up well with coach Raymond’s philosophy for the game.
“[My impact] was a lot more inside [the paint], just controlling the offense, setting up plays that are going to put people in places they’re going to be successful,” Icabalceta said.
The Bombers improved to 3-3 and an undefeated 2-0 in conference play. Following a winter break, they will travel to Springfield, Massachusetts, to face Tufts University in their first match of the Springfield Tournament on Dec. 31.
