ITHACA, N.Y. – In front of a capacity crowd inside Ben Light Gymnasium on Friday evening, the Ithaca College women's basketball team defeated visiting Rochester Institute of Technology in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. Ithaca has now won 14 straight games and improves to 25-3 on the season heading into tomorrow's matchup with SUNY New Paltz.

It took the Bombers over two minutes to get on the board, but they quickly found their shooting touch and went on an 11-2 run to force RIT to burn a timeout at the 5:36 mark. During the run, Ithaca hit three straight 3-pointers, one from senior Ali Ricchiuti and back-to-back makes by junior Jordan Beers.

RIT answered with a 7-0 run to pull to within an 11-9 difference with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter, and the period would end with the scoreboard reading, 12-11, in favor of Ithaca.

Ithaca pushed its lead back out to six points, 17-11, just 1:25 into the second quarter on a basket from senior Shayna Gaskins and a three-ball by sophomore Meghan Pickell. The Tigers battled back to knot the contest up at 21-21 midway through the stanza and then took a 24-21 lead on a 3-pointer 44 seconds after tying things up.

Out of the media timeout at the 4:02 mark, Beers and Ricchiuti connected again from distance to stake the Bombers to a 29-24 cushion. A three from RIT made the score 29-27 with 2:45 to play, but then Ithaca went on a 6-0 run to build an eight-point advantage with less than a minute to go before halftime. The Tigers scored the final basket of the half to account for the 35-29 tally after 20 minutes.

Beers netted nine points in the first half, while Ricchiuti contributed eight points. Both players also assisted on three baskets. Ferguson and junior Julie Yacovoni each notched four points and three boards in the half.

Ithaca went 14-for-32 from the floor, including 6-for-13 from 3-point range and dished out 10 assists.

RIT came out of the break on fire and put together a 12-0 run up until the media break at 6:27 to regain the lead at 41-35. Ithaca responded with seven straight points on a pair of buckets from Yacovoni and then junior Erin Woop buried a 3-pointer at the 3:34 mark to put the Bombers back in control, 42-41. The third quarter would end in a 44-44 deadlock.

In the final quarter, RIT scored the first four points and held onto the momentum until a 3-pointer from Pickell lifted the Bombers to a one-point edge at 52-51 with 6:42 left in the game. Ithaca would extend its advantage to eight points, 62-54, with less than a minute remaining, thanks to clutch shooting at the free throw line. The Bombers went 12-for-14 at the charity stripe, including 11 makes over the final 5:10.

RIT would not go down without a fight, however, as the Tigers scored eight points in just 14 seconds to make it a one possession game, 64-62, with 11 ticks left on the clock. Sophomore Meghan Mazzella would go 1-for-2 at the line to give the Bombers a three-point cushion heading into the final trip down the floor, and RIT had two chances to send the game to overtime but came up short.

Yacovoni paced Ithaca with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, to go along with five rebounds, five steals and two blocks. Beers and Ricchiuti each tallied 12 points in the win. Beers also chipped in six rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Ricchiuti added three boards and three assists.

Ferguson pulled down nine rebounds with seven points and four assists, and Pickell netted eight points on 3-of-5 shooting for the floor and made both attempts from behind the arc.

Ithaca finished the game shooting 37.3% (22-for-59), including 8-for-21 from distance, and 13-for-18 at the line. The Bombers also forced 18 turnovers with 13 steals, which led to 25 points.

The Bombers and New Paltz will square off at 5 p.m. tomorrow night for a trip to the Sweet 16.