OSWEGO, N.Y. -- The Bridgewater State College women's basketball team opened the 2008-2009 season with a 59-44 loss to Ithaca College in semifinal round play at the Oswego State Tip-Off Tournament on Friday evening.
Host Oswego State also won its' opening round game on Friday setting up a Saturday afternoon showdown at 4:00 p.m. for the championship.
The Bombers (1-2) triumph over 2007-2008 NCAA Division III Championship qualifier Bridgewater State, was highlighted by a game-high 15 points from junior guard Katherine Bixby (Philadelphia, PA), and 13 points from classmate Lindsay Brown (Danbury, CT).
Ithaca, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the opening 5:05 of play on five points from Bixby and seven from Brown. Bixby finished with 10 first-half points, while Brown tallied nine points as the Bombers took a 30-14 halftime lead.
Sophomore Corey Cuddihy (Scituate, MA) was the lone player in double figures for the Bears (0-1) with 10 points. Brittany Chappron (Braintree, MA) followed with nine points to go with five rebounds, a block, and two steals, while freshman Stephanie Houtman (New Bedford, MA) tallied eight points and six rebounds. Senior Ashley Coucci (Dartmouth, MA) pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and had two steals.
In the second game of the evening, Oswego State needed to hold off a late rally from SUNY Cobleskill to come away with a 61-56 victory.
Senior co-captain Heather Merino (Queensbury, NY) scored a team-high 19 points on five of 13 field-goal shooting and 9-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line. Sophomore Traci Bacon (Massena, NY) followed with 17 points, connecting on five of eight field goals, including 3-for-5 beyond the Arc.
The Lakers (2-0) led 29-16 at halftime, but the visiting Fighting Tigers (0-2) opened the second half with a 19-5 run in the opening 8:08 of the period, taking a 35-34 lead on a jumper from freshman Heidi Anderson (Canojarharie, NY). There were five lead changes and five ties over the next 8:20 before Oswego took the lead for good on a three-point play from sophomore forward Colleen McCready (Pittsford, NY) with 4:33 remaining, beginning a game-closing 12-4 stretch run for the Lakers.
Sophomore Sharee Daniels (Poughkeepsie, NY) led all scorers with 20 points, hitting nine of 20 from the floor, while Anderson followed with 10 points, making a pair of three-pointers) to pace Cobleskill, who will meet Bridgewater State in the 12:00 p.m. third-place contest.