Skidmore women’s basketball races past Ithaca, 59-46

ITHACA, N.Y. >> A fast start propelled the Skidmore College women’s basketball team to a weekend Liberty League sweep, after a 59-46 victory over Ithaca at Ben Light Gymnasium Friday afternoon. With the victory, combined with a win at Bard Friday night, Skidmore (8-8, 6-3 Liberty League) moves to a five-way tie for second place in the congested Liberty League standings. Ithaca (11-5, 6-3), league co-leaders entering the contest, moves into second place as the teams hit the midway point of the league season. “Today’s game was a really really strong win for so many reasons,” said head coach Darren Bennett. “We are proud of our team and the way they’ve stick together and worked to get better and better. Being on the road so much can really wear on you and having not been successful in the win column last week this was solid.” The Thoroughbreds scored the game’s first 10 points, holding Ithaca off the board for the first 8:53 of the contest. They held a 12-7 lead after the first quarter, opening up the second with another scoring run. A 9-2 run, capped off by an Ari Fustini 3-pointer, gave Skidmore a 15-point, 24-9 margin. Later in the quarter, Skidmore held its largest lead of the game at 16 points, a 31-15 margin with 20 seconds left in the half. Donnellly led all scorers with 22 points, making 8-of-14 shots from the field. She added 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and 42nd of her career. With the 22 points, Donnelly is closing in on Skidmore’s career scoring mark, needing six points to tie the record of 1,590 points, set by recent Skidmore Athletics Hall of Famer Jamie Cumpelik. Veronica Moceri tallied her seventh double-digit scoring performance of the season with 10 points, adding five rebounds and a career-high six steals. Fustini also got into double digits on the scoring column with 10 points. Caite Opfer had a great, all-around effort with five points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. “Our seniors stepped up today in a big way and their team followed,” said Bennett. “Our bench was full of energy and we played that way on the court. Everybody was feeding off of everybody and everything around them. When you are on the road you must create your own energy. You must create an atmosphere of energy, care and trust to make yourself comfortable and familiar even when the surroundings are new. We did that today for each other and things worked out great.” Skidmore shot 42.6 percent from the field in the victory, holding Ithaca to 30.4 percent. They also outrebounded the Bombers by a 37-31 margin. “We held an offensive juggernaut to nearly 30 below their season average on the road and that’s something to be proud of and grow on,” said Bennett. The Thoroughbreds finish off their seven-game road trip with a pair of games in the Capital Region. Skidmore travels to Union on Friday at 6 p.m., wrapping up the weekend next Saturday at RPI at 2 p.m. “Today’s game was a really, really strong win for so many reasons,” said head coach Darren Bennett. “We are proud of our team and the way they’ve stick together and worked to get better and better. Being on the road so much can really wear on you and having not been successful in the win column last week this was solid.”