Box Score

Credit: Pomona Pitzer Sports Info

Ithaca ITH 4-2,0-1 Liberty League

Vassar VAS 6-1,1-0 Liberty League

Ithaca ITH

4-2,0-1 Liberty League

Final

Dec. 01, 2023

Vassar VAS

6-1,1-0 Liberty League

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Ithaca ITH	19	16	12	21	68
Vassar VAS	17	19	18	22	76

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/1/2023

Balanced Scoring Attack Sends Vassar To Fifth Straight Victory

McDermed nets season-high 23 points

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William Smith College

12/2/2023 | 2:00 PM

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Dec. 02 (Sat) / 2:00 PM

William Smith College

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Poughkeepsie, NY – Sophomore Sierra McDermed (San Antonio, TX) led four Brewers in double-figures with a season-high 23 points as the Vassar College Women's Basketball team held off visiting Ithaca on Friday evening in a 76-68 victory in its Liberty League opener. The win stretches Vassar's winning streak to five games.

Friday's win pushes Vassar to 6-1 overall on the season and 1-0 in Liberty League play, while Ithaca drops to 4-2 and 0-1 in conference competition. Friday's win is also the third straight at home for Vassar over the Bombers and third win in the last five matchups.

First Half

After a sluggish start to the contest, Vassar raced out to an 11-5 lead on a McDermed three-pointer midway through the first quarter.
Ithaca responded with nine straight points, including a three-point play from Camryn Coffey, to surge in front 14-11 with 2:32 left in the opening frame.
Vassar fell behind by as many as four points when a Coffey triple pushed the visitors in front 19-15 in the final minute of the first period before taking a 19-17 lead into the second stanza.
Ithaca shot 53.3-percent over the opening 10 minutes and hit on a pair of triples.
Vassar stayed in contact with the Bombers after shooting just 26.7-percent on the strength of an 8-for-8 showing from the free-throw line.
After falling behind by four points again early in the second quarter, Vassar got the game even at 21-21 on a Julia Harvey (Delmar, NY) conversion.
Following the Harvey bucket, Ithaca ripped off another 9-0 run, highlighted by six points from Coffey, to grab its largest lead of the game at 30-21 with 6:11 left before halftime.
Vassar answered with a 13-2 stretch to regain the lead late int the second period.
Following a Coffey three-pointer, Vassar got four straight points from Naiya Kurnik (Fallbrook, CA) to slice the disadvantage to 30-26.
Back-to-back buckets from McDermed evened the score at 32-32 before a pair of Mo Regan (Oak Lawn, IL) free-throws pushed the Brewers back in front 34-32 with 1:39 left in the quarter.
Ithaca would get the game even at 34-34, but a Kurnik bucket would be enough to get the Brewers into the intermission with a 36-35 advantage.
Vassar shot 41.2-percent in the second period and finished the first half converting at 34.4-percent.
Ithaca converted at 41.2-percent in the second frame and went into the break shooting 48.1-percent with four three-pointers.
Vassar outscored Ithaca from the free-throw line 12-5 over the first 20 minutes of play.

Second Half

Vassar came out of the break with the first 11 points, including six points from Tova Gelb (Sharon, MA), to open a 47-35 lead with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.
The Brewers kept their advantage at nine points or better until a 7-0 spurt from Ithaca capped by a Hannah Polce triple cut the Bombers disadvantage to 51-47 in the final half minute of the quarter.
The Brewers came back with a Harvey three-pointer in the closing seconds to carry a 54-47 lead into the final stanza.
Vassar went 8-for-19 from the floor in the third quarter while Ithaca was limited to 31.3-percent shooting.
A pair of Gelb free-throws opened the fourth quarter scoring and pushed the Brewers lead back to 56-47.
Vassar would hold a lead of nine points on five occasions in the final frame.
Ithaca fought back to within 69-66 following back-to-back baskets from Polce and Coffey, but a Harvey jumper and a 3-for-4 effort from the free-throw line in the final minute pushed the lead back to the final 76-68 decision.
Vassar shot and even 50-percent from the floor in the fourth quarter and finished the second half shooting 45.5-percent.
Ithaca shot 56.3-percent in the final period and 43.8-percent in the second half, but made just two threes and three free-throws.

For The Brewers

McDermed finished the night 9-for-13 from the floor, including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc, on the way to a season-high 23 points. McDermed added three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals to the win.
Harvey continued a steady start to the season with 18 points, adding four rebounds and a pair of steals.
Gelb reached double-figures for the seventh straight game to start the season with 16 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Gelb rounded out a solid all-around night with three assists and three steals.
Kurnik chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists for the Brewers.
Maddie Ahearn (Bethlehem, PA) came off the bench to produce four points, four rebounds and a pair of steals.

For The Bombers

Coffey led the scoring effort with a team-high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers. Coffey also matched the team-high in caroms with seven.
Junie Dickson finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.
Polce closed the night with seven points and a game-high five assists.
Anya Watkins joined Coffey with seven rebounds and totaled seven points.

Game Statistics

Vassar shot an even 40-percent from the field and went 5-for-19 from three-point range.
Ithaca converted at 45.8-percent overall and went 6-for-19 from behind the arc.
Vassar outscored Ithaca 19-8 from the free-throw line.
Points off of turnovers went the way of Vassar, 17-8.

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