ONEONTA, NY – The Hartwick women's basketball team put up a strong effort against the two-time defending Liberty League title winners on Saturday night, but a three-pointer with seven seconds to go gave visiting Ithaca a 50-48 victory in Lambros Arena. The win came in the Bombers' first game as they improved to 1-0, while 'Wick's early hopes at an undefeated season were snapped; they are now 2-1.
It seemed like it might be a long day for the Hawks early on, as Ithaca grabbed the first 13 points of the game. 'Wick would find themselves down 15-4 when a Molly Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) three snapped them out of it, as they outscored the Bombers 9-2 over the remainder of the period and trained 17-13 after one.
The second quarter was more evenly matched, and although it looked like Ithaca might pull away midway through after Grace Cannon's fastbreak lay-up put them up 11, the Hawks stayed with it. Kayley Ericson's (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy) jumper in the final minute made the score 30-26 at the half.
'Wick's defense clamped down out of the break (although you could also say that the Bombers went cold), as they allowed just four points in the quarter. Bree Fargnoli (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Forks) converted a three-point play in the first minute, and with the score locked at 30 a couple minutes later, Molly Kirby canned another three for Hartwick's first lead. Giuliana Pritchard (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) hit her own try from deep a bit later for the six-point advantage, although Ithaca would narrow it down to 38-34 after three.
Two Molly Kirby free throws and a Pritchard lay-up to open the fourth pushed the Hartwick lead to eight, but two Cannon lay-ups and a Cara Volpe jumper whittled that down to 42-40. The Bombers kept coming, as Megan Yawman's three with 2:43 to go cut the lead to one at 45-44. Maggie Kirby answered with her own three a couple possessions later, although that in turn was partially nullified by a Volpe bucket. Yawman made one-of-two from the line in the final minute, to push the score to 48-47 in favor of Hartwick.
After Cannon missed a lay-up with 14 seconds left, the ball went out of bounds off of Hartwick, and Ithaca called a timeout to draw up a play. It worked to perfection, as Natalie Smith found herself with a good look on the wing and outside the arc, draining a three for the 50-48 lead. 'Wick could not get a good look on the other end, as Molly Kirby's effort came just after the buzzer sounded.
Maggie Kirby tied for the game high with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, also grabbing five rebounds. Pritchard and Molly Kirby each scored 12 points, with the former also picking up four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Fargnoli contributed in a few places, with five rebounds, three steals, three points, and two blocks.
Hartwick (34.8%) outshot Ithaca (28.8%) from the field, although neither team was all that offensively gifted on the evening. The rebounding battle was fairly evenly matched, at 41-39 in favor of the visitors. That included a massive 20 offensive rebounds for the Bombers, however, leading to a 16-4 lead in second chance points.
'Wick returns to action on Tuesday for their final home game in nearly a month, as they take on Cortland at 5:30 p.m. in Lambros Arena.
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