The St. John Fisher College Cardinals fell to 2-2 in Empire 8 play with a 78-62 loss to the hosting Ithaca Bombers in Bomber territory on Saturday afternoon.

Fisher's Colleen Maloney opened scoring, sinking a 3-pointer, before Ithaca went on a 10-0 run with four different scorers to jump to a 10-3 lead, never looking back from that point on.

Another significant 9-0 run from the Bombers beginning with 10:50 left in the first half secured a 16-point lead at 24-8 for Ithaca.

Each of Fisher's aims to cut the deficit were responded to quickly by the Bombers, keeping the Cardinals at a double-digit distance throughout the first stanza.

The Bombers took a 42-28 lead into the locker room at the half, with Ithaca at 52% shooting as compared to Fisher's 33%. The Cardinals turned the ball over 11 times to Ithaca's six, but neither team held the advantage in rebounding, with boards equal at 20 in the first.

The Cardinals opened the second half on a 5-0 run to bring the deficit to nine before Ithaca began to answer.

Cutting in closer and closer, a 3-pointer from Stephanie Sweeney would bring the Cardinals within two with just over 14 minutes left to play, but after trading back and forth over the next couple of minutes, the Bombers would pull away to secure the win.

Freshman Camaryn Buckner led the Cardinals (now 5-7 overall) with 12 points, while Maloney added 11 points and each player added four boards of their own. Meghan Soja tallied nine points and led Fisher with nine rebounds.

Ithaca's Kathryn Campbell led all scorers with 21 points - tallying 17 of those points in the first half alone.

The Cardinals return to action Tuesday as they host the University of Rochester in a non-conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Manning & Napier Varsity Gym.