ITHACA, N.Y. – Union College fell to first-place Ithaca College by a 74-61 score in Liberty League women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Ben Light Gymnasium.
The loss does not affect Union (11-8, 8-4 Liberty League) in the conference standings, as the Garnet Chargers remain in fourth place with six games remaining in the regular season, while Ithaca (11-7, 10-1 Liberty League) remains a half-game ahead of Vassar College for the top spot.
Junior
Jelena Perovic paced the Garnet Chargers with 19 points and also added five rebounds, four assists and four blocks to her ledger. Senior
Emma Riley poured in 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and junior
Kate Peek added 14 points off the bench as well.
Perovic was the only Union player with multiple field goals in the first period of play, as the visitors found themselves down 18-13 after 10 minutes. Perovic started the game with three free throws to put the Garnet Chargers up early, and Union stayed with Ithaca for much of the opening frame until a late 8-2 run put the Bombers up by five.
Union started the second stanza with a 7-2 run to knot the score at 20 after Peek struck from long distance at the 4:03 mark. Another Peek triple gave Union its first lead of the game at 25-23 with 4:40 on the clock, but the Bombers closed on a 13-3 run to take a 36-28 lead into halftime.
The visitors doubled up the home team 10-5 to start the third period, getting back within a possession at 41-38 after a Perovic freebie with 3:40 left. However, back-to-back three-pointers quickly extended the Ithaca lead back to nine and the Bombers went into the final frame with the same nine-point edge at 51-42.
Union shot 58.3 percent (7 of 12) from the field in the fourth frame, but Ithaca nearly matched Union's shooting to keep the visitors from getting within range. The visitors got the deficit down to seven after a Riley three with 6:29 to go, but they were unable to get any closer after Ithaca scored the next five points.
The Garnet Chargers outshot the Bombers 40 percent to 39 percent on the afternoon, but Ithaca used 18 offensive rebounds to take 20 more shots than Union and possess a 15-5 edge in second-chance points.
After two weekends on the road, Union will return home to Viniar Athletic Center on Friday to begin a big conference weekend against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 5:30 p.m.
