Box Score

The St. John Fisher College women's basketball program suffered a season-ending 64-54 loss to top-seeded Ithaca College in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Championship on Friday , hosted by Ithaca College.

Ithaca jumped out to a 12-2 lead over the opening eight minutes, as the Cardinals shot just 1-for-12 from the floor.   The Cardinals battled back and pulled with five at 14-9 on a basket from Sydney Bloomstein with 9:26 left.

Ithaca, however, went on an 11-2 run over the next six minutes to take control and led 30-15 at the break.

The Bombers led by as many as 23 points at 45-22 with 14 minutes left, but Fisher hung tough.

The Cardinals pulled to within 14 points on a 3-point-play from Bloomstein with 6:34 left and two free throws from Avery Light pulled Fisher to within 11 points with 4:16 left.

Fisher cut the lead to 10 points at 56-46 on a 3-pointer from Mary Kate Cusack with two minutes left and moments later, the freshman stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for the layup to pull Fisher to within eight at 56-48 with 1:43 left.

That would be as close Fisher would get, however, as the Bombers sealed the game at the foul line.

Buckner finished the game with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Portia Velasco added 13 points and six boards.  Buckner was named to the Championship's All-Tournament Team.

With the loss, Fisher finishes the season with a 12-14 overall record.  It is just the third losing record since 1975 for the women's basketball program.   There was only one upperclassman on this year's team.