ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - After struggling in the opening quarter on Friday and getting outscored 18-6 by preseason Liberty League favorite Ithaca College, the Bard College women's basketball team outscored the Bombers, 21-17, in the second quarter and trailed by just eight at halftime.

Ithaca, however, scored 27 third-quarter points and went on to defeat Bard, 80-47, in the conference opener for both teams.

It was 18-4 with just under three minutes left in the first quarter, but the stubborn Raptors put together an 11-4 run to trim the deficit to 22-15 with 7:24 left in the first half. The lead went back to 10 a couple of times, but thanks to Christina Kiser's 13 second-quarter points, Bard trailed, 35-27, at the break.

A 25-7 burst in the third quarter put the game away for Ithaca, 2-3 overall, 1-0 in Liberty League play.

Cassidy O'Malley (Summit, NJ) scored 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots in 23 minutes for Ithaca. Ten other players score, including eight points apiece from KellyAnne O'Reilly (Montville, NJ), Grace Cannon (Bloomfield, NJ) and Natalie Smith (Newtown, PA).

Kiser finished with 27 points, three rebounds, two assists and a block for Bard (4-3, 0-1). Jess Rylander added eight points and eight rebounds, and Marissa Munsell also grabbed eight rebounds.

The Raptors get right back on the court on Saturday, hosting William Smith at 2 p.m. Follow that game live right here.