News Release

ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca (7-8, 4-1 Empire 8) won for the fifth time in six games, holding off visiting Rochester Institute of Technology (8-7, 2-2 Empire 8) for a 53-52 win Saturday. The Tigers scored 11 of the game's last 13 points, but two free throws by freshman guard Katherine Bixby (Germantown Friends/Philadelphia, Pa.) with 11 seconds left sealed the win, which put the Bombers in first place in the Empire 8 standings.

The win was Ithaca's fourth straight and the Bombers' 27th straight over RIT (they lead the all-time series 36-1).

Ithaca used a 12-5 run to take a 51-41 lead with 4:47 left before RIT's rally. The Tigers pulled to within 51-50 on a basket by junior guard Renee Whitmore (Romulus/Geneva) with 16 seconds left and sent Bixby to the line five seconds later. Bixby, a 79.3 free-throw shooter coming into the game gave the Bombers a three-point lead. The Tigers missed a three-point basket with four seconds left that would have tied the game; after collecting the rebound Whitmore scored a lay-up with 0.7 seconds remaining but Ithaca inbounded the ball for the win.

Junior center Erika Steele (Hopkinton/Hopkinton, Mass.) led Ithaca with 13 points and career-best totals of 12 rebounds and five blocks. Bixby scored 12 points and senior guard Sue Kelly (Bethlehem/Delmar) added 10 points and four steals.

Whitmore and senior forward Margot Sandy (Grand Blanc/Grand Blanc, Mich.) each scored 12 points for RIT. Senior forward Ramata Diallo (W.T. Woodson/Fairfax, Va.) finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Newspaper Box Score
RIT vs Ithaca
01/20/07 2 p.m. at Ithaca, N.Y. (Ben Light Gymnasium)

ITHACA 53, RIT 52
RIT (8-7, 1-3 E8)
Margot Sandy 4-15 4-6 12; Renee Whitmore 6-9 0-0 12; Ramata Diallo 2-4 5-8
9; Danielle Furman 3-14 0-0 8; Joanna Dobeck 3-9 0-1 6; Jackie Hammond 2-7
1-2 5; Christine Rowinski 0-3 0-0 0; Jamie Snyder 0-1 0-0 0; Kelly Votolato
0-0 0-0 0; Jackie Sergi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-62 10-17 52.
ITHACA (7-8, 4-1 E8)
Erika STEELE 6-11 1-2 13; Katherine BIXBY 4-9 3-3 12; Sue KELLY 4-13 2-2 10;
Erin SANVIDGE 1-11 4-4 7; Kali CARNOVALE 2-4 2-4 7; Brynn FESSETTE 1-7 0-0
3; Jeanine BURKE 0-3 1-2 1; Tracy BRADLEY 0-1 0-0 0; Molly FRIEL 0-4 0-0 0;
Amy SMITH 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-65 13-17 53.
RIT...........................   24   28  -   52
Ithaca........................   22   31  -   53
3-point goals--RIT 2-13 (Danielle Furman 2-9; Jackie Hammond 0-1; Christine
Rowinski 0-1; Margot Sandy 0-2), Ithaca 4-22 (Brynn FESSETTE 1-5; Kali
CARNOVALE 1-2; Erin SANVIDGE 1-5; Katherine BIXBY 1-3; Amy SMITH 0-1; Sue
KELLY 0-6). Fouled out--RIT-None, Ithaca-None. Rebounds--RIT 46 (Jackie
Hammond 14), Ithaca 47 (Erika STEELE 12). Assists--RIT 9 (Ramata Diallo 5),
Ithaca 14 (Amy SMITH 4). Total fouls--RIT 14, Ithaca 14. Technical
fouls--RIT-Margot Sandy, Ithaca-None.